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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

ChapL]!%/copyright No. 

Shel f. . A X.O- 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 























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11 








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ALL-OVER-THE-WORLD LIBRARY 

By OLIVER OPTIC 


Illustrated, Price per Volume $1.25 


FIRST SERIES 

A MISSING MILLION 

Or The Adventures of Louis Belgrave 

A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN 

Or The Cruise of the Guardian Mother 

A YOUNG KNIGHT-ERRANT 

Or Cruising in the West Indies 

STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD 

Or A Voyage in European Waters 

SECOND SERIES 

AMERICAN BOYS AFLOAT 

Or Cruising in the Orient 

THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS 

Or The Foreign Cruise of the Maud 

UP AND DOWN THE NILE 

Or Young Adventurers in Africa 

ASIATIC BREEZES 

Or Students on the Wing 


THIRD SERIES 

ACROSS INDIA 

Or Live Boys in the Far East 

HALF ROUND THE WORLD 

Or Among the Uncivilized 

FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS 

Or Sight-Seeing in the Tropics 

OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION 

ANY VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY 


LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston 









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4 




























He GRASPED THE HAND OF CAPTAIN .RlNGGOLD FIRST 


Page 143 



All-Over-the-World Library — Fourth Volume of Third Series 

* 


PACIFIC SHORES 

OR 

ADVENTURES IN EASTERN SEAS 


BY 

OLIVER OPTIC 




AUTHOR OF 




“ THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES ” “ YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD, FIRST AND SECOND 
SERIES” “THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES” “THE ONWARD AND UPWARD SERIES ” 

“ THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES ” “ THE YACHT-CLUB SERIES ” “ THE RIVER- 
DALE STORIES” “ THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES ” “ THE BLUE AND THE 
GRAY — ON LAND” “ THE STARRY FLAG SERIES ” “ ALL-OVER-THE- 
WORLD LIBRARY, FIRST SECOND AND THIRD SERIES ” COMPRISING 
“ A MISSING MILLION” “a MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN ” “ A YOUNG 
KNIGHT-ERRANT” “STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD” “AMERICAN 
BOYS AFLOAT ” “ THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS ” “ UP AND DOWN 

the nile” “asiatic breezes” “across India” “half 

ROUND THE WORLD ” “ FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS” ETC. 


ILL US TR A TED 


BOSTON 

LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS 

IO MILK STREET 

1898 


4 


> 



Copyright, 1897, by Lee and Shepard 


All rights reserved 

r 


Pacific Shores 


I a-'s 1^1 


C. J. Peters & Son, Typographers, Boston, U.S.A. 


Berwick & Smith, Printers. 


f 




TO 

MY EXCELLENT FRIEND AND ACCOMPLISHED 
FELLOW-SAILOR 

GEORGE WEBSTER TERRILL 

Cfyts Folttme 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED WITH THE 
WARMEST REGARDS OF THE 


AUTHOR 


* 


PREFACE 


“ PACIFIC SHORES ” is the fourth volume of 
the third series of the “ All-Over-the-World Library/’ 
being the twelfth and last book under this general 
title. When the first volume of this series was be- 
gun five years ago, the writer had no thought of con- 
tinuing it through a dozen books. As indicated in 
one of the earliest of the series, and repeated many 
times since as occasion required, the object of the 
tour around the world w r as the education of the 
young gentleman who had come into possession of 
his grandfather’s million and more ; and for this pur- 
pose, at the end of this book, Louis Belgrave has 
been “ all over the world,” as the phrase is com- 
monly used, and all the time he has been storing 
his mind with useful information. He has given at- 
tention to the sciences, has compared the nations of 
the world one with another, obtained a fair knowl- 
edge of Latin, speaks French fluently, can converse 
in Spanish, knows something of seamanship and nav- 
igation, has read the poets and historians of the 
world, and will pass for a liberally educated young 
man. He certainly could have learned no more in 
two years in any college, though his studies would 


v 


VI 


PREFACE 


have been somewhat different ; but it is certain that 
he had acquired an amount and kind of knowledge 
which could not have been obtained in any college. 
At any rate, the commander of the Guardian-Mother, 
who directed his education, his mother, and the trustee 
of his fortune, were abundantly satisfied with the 
progress he had made. 

If he had obtained knowledge without building up 
his moral character and without keeping the religious 
sentiment alive in his soul at the same time, of what 
avail would have been his learning to him ? We 
regard him at the end of his long voyage as a model 
hero. He has been fair, honest, just, humane, with 
a strong interest in all that was good and true. He 
is “ summed up ” at the end of the last chapter ; and 
with the character he has built up as he enters upon 
the duties and responsibilities of manhood, we leave 
him, assured that he will be an upright citizen, a 
useful and not merely an ornamental member of the 
community, and a valuable, if not always a popular, 
individual in the society in which he moves. 

Louis Belgrave and the companions who have been 
known to the reader as the “ Big Four ” have passed 
through many exciting adventures in the stories which 
have been written, scenes which have contributed 
largely in making men of them. If one of them 
was vicious at first, he was thoroughly reformed and 
built up by the admirable instruction and discipline 
of the commander. Scott is a sailor by nature ; and 
we leave him, an honest and upright young man, in 


PREFACE 


Yll 


the position of second officer of the Guardian-Mother, 
which continues to be the steam-yacht of the young 
millionaire. 

As stated before, this is the last volume of the 
library. It has been made the concluding volume, 
not because the field of travel and adventure is ex- 
hausted, but to enable the author to complete other 
work already far advanced, and, if his life should 
be spared, occupy another field in which he has not 
yet trodden. For the labors of the past forty-five 
years, as a preparation, he has travelled well-nigh 
“ all over the world,” and lias not yet used up all 
his material. Within the present year he has been 
entirely around the world, crossing the Atlantic for 
the twenty-first time. For some of the earlier books 
of the series he had been several times to the West 
Indies. 

To the numerous friends, young and old, who have 
cheered him through many long years by their en- 
couragement of his work, he is profoundly grateful, 
and returns his most sincere thanks to all of them. 

WILLIAM T. ADAMS, 

“ Oliver Optic, ’ 


Dorchester, Mass. 









































* 























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CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Danger in the China Sea 1 

CHAPTER II. 

The Piratical Junks 10 

CHAPTER III. 

A General View of Japan 20 

CHAPTER IY. 

Something about the People of Japan .... 30 

CHAPTER Y. 

Arrival at Yokohama 41 

CHAPTER YI. 

Five Guides and Whistles for Yokohama ... 51 

CHAPTER YII. 

The First Day in Yokohama 61 

CHAPTER YIII. 

A Short Walk in Honcho-Dori 72 

ix 


X 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER IX. 

PAGE 

A Busy Street of the Native Town 83 

CHAPTER X. 

A Concert in a Tea-House 94 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Interior of a Japanese House 105 

CHAPTER XII. 

A Visit to the Bluff Gardens 116 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Buddhist and Shinto Services 127 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Visit to the Capital of Japan 138 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Temples and Tombs of Siiiba 149 

CHAPTER XVI. 

A Visit to Ueno Park and Asakusa 160 

CHAPTER XVII. 

A Great Change in the Travel Route .... 171 
CHAPTER XVIII. 

A Visit to Ikegami and Some Fishing .... 182 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Gigantic Image of Buddha 193 


CONTENTS xi 

CHAPTER XX. 

PAGE 

Enoshima and the Tomb of Will Adams . . . 204 

CHAPTER XXI. 

The Journey to Miyanoshita 215 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Ex-Shogun of Japan 226 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Dinner on Board, and Lake Biwa 236 

CHAPTER XXIY. 

Two Days in the Ancient Capital 246 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Osaka, the Venice of Japan 256 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Kobe, and the Festival on Board Ship .... 267 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

A Visit to Awaji and Shikoku 278 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Rambles among the Japanese Islands .... 288 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Departure from Nagasaki 299 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The Last of the Unexpected Passenger . . . 310 


CONTENTS 


xii 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

PAGE 

The Droughts and Floods of Australia . . . 321 
CHAPTER XXXII. 

The Flora,. Fauna, and Natives 332 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

To the Principal Cities of Australia .... 343 
CHAPTER XXXIY. 

A Brief Visit to New Zealand 354 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

A Week at the Fiji Islands 365 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 


The Conclusion of the Long Voyage 


. . 376 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


% 


He grasped the hand of Captain Ringgold 

first Frontispiece 

PAGE 

v A man in Japanese costume came on board . . 44 

v “ I AM AFRAID THIS GO-CART WILL TIP OVER BACK- 
WARD ” 65 

' m | 

Louis WAS THE FIRST TO BRING UP HIS FISH . . . 191- 

'' a E B j I G'a. * wBI ft S 

The young millionaire was the head-waiter . 240 

/ Mr. Gaskette politely assisted him to his feet, 304 


Felix stepped up in front of him 318 

They saw plenty" of the wonderful surf-bath- 
ing of the natives 388 



PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER I 

DANGER IN THE CHINA SEA 

The Guardian-Mother sailed from Shang-hai, China, 
early in May. Her commander, so far as he had 
been able to do so, conformed the visits of the party 
in his charge to the climate of the countries visited. 
The steamer was now bound to Yokohama; and May 
and June were the most desirable months for travel- 
ling in Japan, though September and October are 
perhaps equally favorable. The ship had been about 
eighteen months on her voyage around the world, 
taking a devious course in order to reach various 
countries desirable to visit. 

In company with the steamer was another of about 
the same tonnage, belonging to the Pacha Ali-Noury, 
one of the highest officials of Morocco, who had had 
a singular experience in connection with the travel- 
lers from the United States, fully related in previous 
volumes. He was the possessor of immense wealth, 
which he had lavished upon his pleasures, and, 
though he was a Mohammedan, upon his dissipa- 

1 


2 


PACIFIC SHORES 


tions. He had been thoroughly reformed when dan- 
gerously wounded, by the influence of Mrs. Sharp, 
the wife of the captain of the Blanche, as the pacha’s 
steamer was called, and had become a really good 
man, though he still retained the religion of his 
native country. 

Both of the ships were magnificent vessels, pro- 
vided with all the luxuries and the comforts, as well 
as all the elegance, it was possible to crowd into 
them. The pacha had married a beautiful Indian 
princess, the daughter of a nabob who had been de- 
posed from his government, when the two steamers 
had made their way “ Half Bound the World.” The 
Princess Zuleima was not only a very beautiful wo- 
man, but she was kind-hearted, highly accomplished, 
and had become a general favorite on board of the 
Guardian-Mother as well as the Blanche. 

The most important personage on board of the 
American ship was Louis Belgrave, a young man of 
eighteen and a millionaire, the owner of the vessel ; 
and she was making her voyage around the world for 
his benefit principally. She was, in fact, his col- 
lege, with an accomplished professsor on board, and 
with abundant other means for carrying on his edu- 
cation. He knew his Latin tolerably well, could 
speak French fluently, and could converse very well 
in Spanish. 

The ship was commanded by Captain Boyal Bing- 
gold, a retired shipmaster who had educational views 
of his own, and had proposed and carried out the plan 


DANGER IN THE CHINA SEA 


3 


upon which the institution was managed. He was a 
fairly educated man, had sailed well over the world 
professionally, and also as a traveller with an inquir- 
ing mind. As often as occasion required, lectures 
were given relating to the countries visited, by the 
commander, the professor, the surgeon of the- ship, 
and others who were available for this service, includ- 
ing the owner, who was encouraged to study up the 
various subjects for the improvement of his own 
mind as well as those of others. 

The name of the beautiful steamer had been given 
to her by Louis himself, in honor of his mother, to 
whom he was as devoted as though she had been the 
heroine of his life-romance. His father had died 
when he was quite young, and his mother had had 
the sole care of him. She had been to him all that 
a mother could be, and the boy understood and ap- 
preciated her. She had been called upon to pass 
through a strange and trying experience ; and Louis 
had not only loved and cared for her, but he had 
actually fought for her. She was the legal guardian 
of her son ; but his million and a half was in the 
keeping of a trustee, who had been his friend and 
adviser from his early years. 

Louis had friends and companions near his own 
age on board, and they had come to be known as the 
“ Big Four.” The trustee was a lawyer, “ Squire 
Moses Scarburn,” as he was often called, though no 
one in his immediate circle ever gave him any other 
name than “ Uncle Moses.” Hr. Hawkes, the sur- 


4 


PACIFIC SHORES 


geon of the ship, and the trustee were both men 
weighing about two hundred and a quarter apiece. 
The doctor has called the lawyer “ Brother Avoirdu- 
pois, ^ and Dr. Hawkes became “ Brother Adipose 
Tissue ” from the first day they came on board. The 
Gaze -conductor in Egypt had lumped them together, 
and called them both “ Cupids ” behind their backs. 
But they were always very jolly, and all liked them 
very much. 

Uncle Moses was a bachelor ; but he had brought 
up an orphan Irish boy, Felix McGavonty, who had 
been the intimate friend and companion of Louis 
from his childhood. They were very much attached 
to each other ; and Louis could not have gone to sea 
without his shadow, as all hands regarded Felix. 
The trustee’s housekeeper, Mrs. Sarah Blossom, had 
always taken care of the boy, and was as devoted to 
him as though he had been her own son, and was 
altogether too demonstrative for the taste of the 
young Milesian. 

In the Bahama Islands, Captain Ringgold had 
picked up a young fellow who was a born seaman, 
and had sailed his own yacht to this locality from 
New York ; but he w r as disposed to be a bad boy, 
wild and reckless. The commander had judiciously 
reformed him ; and George Scott Fencelow, though 
never called anything but Scott, was now the third 
officer of the ship, one of the “ Big Four,” and a 
general favorite, for he had really “ been made over 
new.” The fourth of the quartette was Morris Wool- 


DANGER IN THE CHINA SEA 


5 


ridge, the youngest of them, the son of a “ Fifth 
Avenue magnate/’ whose father, mother, and sister 
were also passengers. 

Blanche Woolridge, “of sweet sixteen,” was the 
most beautiful young lady of her age that could be 
imagined, and Louis Belgrave had found it out. If 
they were together a great deal, it was doubtless be- 
cause the limited space on board of a ship did not 
permit them to be as far apart as they might have 
been. It may be added that they were excellent 
friends, and it was not absolutely necessary that 
they should remain even as far apart as it would 
have been possible for them to be. But on the 
veracity of the writer, who knows all about it, though 
there may have been much looking, and even some 
blushing, not a word, spoken or written, had ever 
passed between them to indicate a possible or prob- 
able future relation between them. 

Having informed the curious reader who were the 
occupants of the cabin of the Guardian-Mother, one 
who was not a regular member of the party may 
be presented, Mr. Psi-ning, Mandarin, Diplomat, and 
high official of the government of the Chinese Em- 
pire. He had been educated at an American col- 
lege, and spoke English perfectly. The tourists had 
made his acquaintance in Shang-hai ; and he had 
gone to Pekin with them, and rendered them abun- 
dant assistance in seeing the wonders of the capital. 
Being about to proceed to the capital of Japan on 
official business, Captain Binggold had invited him 


6 


PACIFIC SHORES 


to take passage in the Guardian-Mother, and he had 
accepted. 

The original plan for the trip to Japan had been 
to visit Nagasaki first, and proceed by the Inland 
Sea to Yokohama ; but the distinguished passenger 
could not spend the time for such a voyage, and 
the two steamers were proceeding direct by sea to 
the nearest port to Tokyo. The weather was fine, 
and the temperature was very agreeable. On the 
morning of the second day out, Captain Sharp had 
made the signal that his passengers desired to visit 
the Guardian-Mother, which meant nothing more nor 
less than a day’s frolic on board of the leading 
steamer. Mrs. Belgrave had a decided taste and 
talent for amusing a company of ladies and gentle- 
men, and several parties for this purpose had been 
held on the ships. 

Various old-fashioned games, such as “ Blind Man’s 
Buff,” “ Bolling the Cover,” and others, such as are 
played by young people, were introduced ; and it was 
found that old ones enjoyed them quite as much. 
The “ Cupids ” were especially fond of them, and 
with their bulky forms and ,fund of good-nature they 
created an abundance o£ merriment. 

On board of the Blanche the pacha carried an 
Italian band of fine musicians, whose harmonious 
strains had produced a decided sensation in several 
of the cities where they had played. Following the 
pacha’s barge, in which were the owner and the prin- 
cess, the captain’s wife and the surgeon, came two 


DANGER IN THE CHINA SEA 


7 


cutters containing the band. The party were wel- 
comed as they always were ; and the musicians were 
placed in Conference Hall, where the lectures were 
usually given, and immediately began to discourse 
their most ravishing strains. 

After the concert several games were played to 
the great delight of the mandarin, in which the 
Cupids distinguished themselves as usual. General 
Noury, as the pacha preferred to be called, proposed 
dancing as the next amusement. Neither the com- 
mander, Mrs. Belgrave, nor Mrs. Blossom ever 
datfced ; but Louis, Miss Blanche, and the mandarin 
joined. 

“When shall we have your lecture on Japan, 
Your Excellency ? ” asked the commander of the 
distinguished guest on his right hand. 

“Whenever you please, Captain; I shall obey your 
command at any time,” replied the Chinese official. 

“ Then I will say at two o’clock this afternoon,” 
added the captain. 

“ But if I am to talk for an hour or two, shall I 
not be a victim ? ” asked Mr. Psi-ning, laughing. 

“ A victim of what ? ” 

“ A victim of the impatience of the party. After 
dancing and frolicking all the forenoon, the ladies 
and gentlemen will not be willing to listen to the 
dry details of geography and history.” 

“ I will be responsible for their attention ; and I 
am sure they will all regard it as a very great honor 
and privilege to listen to Your Excellency.” 


8 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“I shall do the best I can; but you flatter me, Mr. 
Commander. I esteem it a great honor to address 
such an intelligent audience,” answered the mandarin. 

At the time designated, the party were seated in 
the armchairs of Conference Hall. Miss Mingo had 
taken her place in the lap of Miss Blanche ; Mr. and 
Mrs. Mingo had taken chairs, and looked as grave 
and dignified as any other members of the company. 

“ Monkeys ! ” exclaimed Mr. Psi-ning, as the cap- 
tain conducted him to the platform, and he halted 
before these members of the party. 

“Not monkeys, but siamangs,” replied the com- 
mander. “ They belong to the monkey tribe, though 
they are of the higher order. They always attend 
the lectures, and you will not have to complain of 
their want of attention. Mrs. Mingo, the mother of 
the baby in the young lady’s lap, was captured with 
her infant by our boys in Sumatra. Mr. Mingo was 
presented to me by a Chinese gentleman at Singa- 
pore. We are all very fond of them.” 

“ I shall be glad to become better acquainted with 
them,” said the diplomat. 

“Mr. Belgrave gave us a lecture on the monkey 
tribe, and he can give you any information in regard 
to our friends here that you may desire.” 

“ I shall be glad to learn more about them.” 

At this moment Mr. Boulong, the chief officer of 
the steamer, came to the platform, and beckoned to 
the commander, who hastened to the railing. 

“ I am sorry to disturb you, Captain Binggold,” 


DANGER IN THE CHINA SEA 


9 


said the officer ; “ but there is something suspicious 
ahead of us.” 

“Suspicious!” exclaimed the captain. “What is it?” 

“A large junk persists in throwing herself into 
our course. She is full of men, and I don’t like the 
looks of her,” added Mr. Boulong. 

“ Will Your Excellency excuse me for a short 
time ? ” said the commander, addressing the lecturer. 

“ Certainly, Mr. Commander ; ” and he seated him- 
self at the table. 

Captain Ringgold hastened to the pilot-house, and 
discovered not one, but two large junks. One of 
them had worked her way almost into the course 
of the ship. They had set all the sail they could 
carry, though the one on the port bow did not appear 
to be approaching. 

“ I have sheered off twice to avoid running into 
the one on the starboard, going to the windward of 
her the last time.” 

“ What do you make of her, Mr. Boulong ? ” 

“ It looks as though both of them had taken posi- 
tion out here to intercept us.” 

“ For what purpose ? ” 

“ You know the China Sea, Captain, as well as, 
or better than, I do.” 

“ I do know it, for I was attacked by a pirate 
here many years ago,” answered the commander with 
compressed lips. 

The danger was not imminent, and the commander 
went aft. 


10 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER II 

THE PIRATICAL JUNKS 

“ I think we shall be obliged to postpone the 
lecture till to-morrow/’ said the commander to the 
mandarin in a whisper, so that the passengers might 
not hear him. 

“ I hope nothing unpleasant has happened/’ re- 
plied Mr. Psi-ning. 

“ A large junk ahead of us is acting very strange- 
ly,” added the captain. “ In fact, there are two of 
them, about a mile apart. Twenty-five years ago the 
Chinese seas had a very bad reputation.” 

“ I am aware of it, and there was a case of piracy 
only a few years ago,” replied the mandarin. 

“ One of our wealthy citizens built a larger steam- 
yacht than the Guardian-Mother before we sailed 
from New York, and he armed it like a man-of-war 
for his voyage around the world. 1 had a narrow 
escape myself from such a craft off the island of 
Hainan,” continued Captain Ringgold. 

“ Our government has done all it could to destroy 
and punish such crimes. But your ship is well 
armed, is it not ? ” asked the guest of the ship. 

“ She is, and I am not alarmed,” said the com- 
mander with a smile. “ As nearly as I can make 


THE PIRATICAL JUNKS 


11 


out the plan of the larger junk, she means to throw 
herself in the way of our ship with the intention 
of stopping her.” 

“ It looks like a very stupid plan,” suggested Mr. 
Psi-ning. 

“ Not so very stupid ; it is about the only way 
she can do anything. It is like an enemy who lies 
down, and allows his opponent to tumble over him. 
We will postpone the lecture till to-morrow, ladies 
and gentlemen,” he proceeded, addressing the pas- 
sengers. 

“ What has happened, Captain Ringgold ? ” asked 
Mrs. Belgrave. 

“ Nothing has happened yet ; but I will tell you 
the whole truth, and then invite you to retire to the 
cabin,” replied the commander. “ There are two 
pirate junks, such as you have heard of in these 
seas. They are lying in wait for our steamer ; and I 
propose to beat them off, with the assistance of the 
Blanche, and without making much fuss about it. 
You have already had some experience with pirates 
in the Indian Ocean, and it will not be a new thing 
to you. Now, if you will retire to the cabin, we will 
make our arrangements for the affair.” 

The ladies did not appear to be much alarmed, 
though some of them looked very serious. The 
captain walked to the gangway with Mrs. Belgrave. 
The screw of the steamer had been stopped, and she 
rested idly on the smooth sea. The Blanche had 
come up with her, and lay within speaking distance. 


12 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Her commander was informed of the situation ; and, 
as it was understood that Captain Ringgold was the 
commodore, the Blanche was directed to look out 
for the junk the most distant from both ships. 

“ I will see that a man-of-war is sent out here 
immediately, for we do not intend that piracy shall 
prevail in our seas,” said the mandarin. 

“ I don’t believe there will be much left of those 
junks when we get through with them,” replied the 
commander. 

“ But you are not quite sure that they are pirates,” 
suggested the Chinese official. “They are guilty of 
no overt act so far.” 

“ I hope they are not pirates,” replied the captain, 
as he led the way forward, where they met the first 
officer. “Mr. Boulong, you believe those junks are 
pirates, do you ? ” 

“ I do, Captain,” replied the officer. 

“ What is the evidence ? ” 

“They have tried not less than three times to 
bring about a collision with the Guardian-Mother;” 
and he described in detail these attempts. “They 
keep their men out of sight, and I have no doubt 
they have at least a hundred of them.” 

“ It looks like an insane idea to attack a ship in 
that manner,” said the captain. 

“A friend of mine, who is the first officer of an 
Indiaman, told me his vessel was attacked in this 
way. Chinamen are good sailors, and are employed 
on nearly all the ships plying between San Francisco 


THE PIRATICAL JUNKS 


13 


and China and Japan,’- said Mr. Boulong. “They 
throw their men on deck from aloft, and overwhelm 
the crew, being four or five to one, by mere numbers.” 

“ The only difficulty I see in the way of doing any- 
thing is the want of a good excuse for pitching into 
the junks,” added the captain. “We do not even 
know that they intend to attack us.” 

The commander ordered the seamen and officers to 
be armed wjth repeating rifles and cutlasses. The 
two twelve-pounders on the top-gallant forecastle 
were loaded by the old man-of-war’s men. The sec- 
ond officer was ordered to load the twenty-four 
pounders on the main deck forward. 

“ Strike one bell, Mr. Scott,” said the captain. 

Again the ship went ahead at full speed. The 
junk lay about half a mile distant, and a course was 
taken that would avoid her. There was a moderate 
breeze, and the craft had her sails shaken out. 
Hardly a man could be seen on board, of her, and 
the first officer was confident that a large number 
of them were concealed in the hold. The pirate did 
not move till the steamer had made half the distance 
to her, and then she headed for her bow. There 
appeared to be no doubt by this time that the un- 
gainly craft intended to throw herself in the path 
of the ship. The captain ordered the course to be 
changed several times, but the junk soon after ob- 
tained the same relative position again. 

“ I am sorry to see, Mr. Psi-ning, that junk in- 
tends to make trouble,” said the captain, when he 


14 


PACIFIC SHORES 


had fully satisfied himself in regard to her inten- 
tions. “I have tried to avoid her, but she will not 
be avoided.” 

“ Sink her, then ! ” exclaimed the mandarin very 
decidedly. 

“I don’t think she would sink if I cut her in 
halves, and therefore I shall not run into her. It 
might damage me. But she blocks my way, and I 
will stand no more nonsense of this sort,” said Cap- 
tain Ringgold, evidently disgusted with the affair. 
“ Fire, Mr. Scott ! Pass the word, Lanark, for Mr. 
Gaskette to open fire with the twenty-fours upon 
the junk ! ” 

The ship was within an eighth of a mile of the 
pirate, and the captain gave the order to stop the 
screw. The first shot from the main-deck gun car- 
ried away the principal mast of the junk. 

“ Her pipe is out,” said Mr. Boulong. 

“That was an easier way to put it out than it 
would have been to run into her,” added the captain. 
“ Stop the firing now, Mr. Boulong. They can’t do 
anything with their best mast gone. Lay the course 
again, and go ahead.” 

“ You have got out of the difficulty more readily 
than you expected, Captain Ringgold,” said Mr. Psi- 
ning. 

“ I should not if I had been foolish enough to let 
her run into me. I can see that she might have 
made a success of it if I had not fought her at a 
distance.” 


THE PIRATICAL JUNKS 


15 


“ But the Blanche is not making good weather of 
it,” interposed the first officer. “It looks to me as 
though she was falling into the trap. The other 
junk is waiting for her, and it looks as though Cap- 
tain Sharp intended to run her down.” 

“ Run for her ! ” replied the captain, evidently 
startled by the situation. 

Captain Sharp appeared to be very well satisfied 
with himself, and intended to overwhelm the pirate 
at a single blow. Probably he thought he could do 
the job quicker than with his guns, as the Guardian- 
Mother had done it. He did not seem to have any 
doubts about his course. Before her consort could 
come within hail of her, the Blanche struck her 
square on the bow, which was stove in, but she did 
’not sink. The steamer pushed her aside; but by 
this time the deck of the junk was crowded with 
Chinamen. 

The British sailors had been armed with cutlasses, 
and placed on the top-gallant forecastle. By this 
time the Guardian-Mother was within gunshot of the 
junk, and opened fire from her main-deck guns. The 
masts of the junk were loaded with men in readiness 
to jump on board of the Blanche. Some of the 
pirates made long leaps, getting hold of the back- 
stays and the guys, and making their way on board. 
But the British tars defended the ship bravely, and 
the greater part of the marauders were hurled over- 
board. 

The guns of the American ship knocked down the 


16 


PACIFIC SHORES 


mast of the second junk ; but she stuck to her task. 
The pacha fought with the sailors, and it was noth- 
ing less than a butchery. The Guardian-Mother con- 
tinued to discharge her bow-guns till those on the 
junk appeared to have had enough of it. 

“ Sheer off, Captain Sharp ! ” shouted the com- 
mander of the Guardian-Mother. 

The order was promptly obeyed, and both ships 
continued on their course. The wreck of the two 
junks remained where they had been dismasted, for 
it would take them some time to repair damages. It 
was still early in the afternoon ; and the captain de- 
cided to have the lecture on Japan, and the signal 
was set to inform Captain Sharp of the Blanche. 
Soon after the ladies and gentlemen gathered on 
the platform, and the cutter of the consort brought 
her commander to the Guardian-Mother. 

“ We have had quite a little stirabout to-day, Cap- 
tain Ringgold,” said the commander of the Blanche. 

“ Had you any killed or wounded, Captain Sharp ? ” 
asked the commander of the Guardian-Mother. 

“ Not a single one ; not a man has a scratch to 
show for it.” 

“I am very glad to hear it, and you were very 
fortunate to escape all casualties.” 

“ How many men did you lose, killed and 
wounded ? ” inquired Captain Sharp. 

“Not a single one; but I did not intend to fight a 
battle, and I did not,” replied the captain of the 
Guardian-Mother rather coolly. 


THE PIRATICAL JUNKS 


17 


“You fought your junk with your guns, and I 
fought mine hand to hand,” added Captain Sharp. 

“ You had the right to fight yours as you pleased.” 

“ Because you gave me no orders, except to engage 
the other junk, and I did so. I preferred to make 
one job of it with my junk,” said Sharp. 

“ If you did not lose the fight it was because I 
poured twenty-four-pound shot into your junk till 
I asked you to sheer off. I thought of running into 
my junk at first, and that was precisely what the 
Chinamen wanted us to do. I would not take that 
risk. But it is no use to talk about it now ; we have 
both got off without damage.” 

“ But I considered my way the better when I saw 
you pegging away at the junk,” said Sharp. 

“ I have seen this thing done before. By pouring 
a hundred men or more into the rigging they might 
have carried the ship.” 

“ I don’t believe a million of those beggars could 
have carried her.” 

“ Perhaps not ; but I should not like to see you 
try the experiment again. I had no fight at all; and 
though you saved all your men behind your bulwarks, 
you could have done it just as well with your guns, 
and have been all ready for any emergency not pro- 
vided for.” 

The company were all seated in Conference Hall, 
including the three siamangs, which had greatly in- 
terested the Chinese magnate. While Mr. Gaskette 
was arranging the map of the islands, two of the sea- 


18 


PACIFIC SHORES 


men dragged a Chinaman upon deck, and presented 
him to the captain. 

“ What have you here, Pitts ? ” asked the cap- 
tain. 

“ I suppose he is a Chinaman. I found him on 
the main deck, and I suppose he came from one of 
those junks.” 

“ Then, it seems one of them did get on board of 
the ship,” added the captain. “But the first junk did 
not come near the vessel. I don’t understand it.” 

At this moment the mandarin came down from the 
platform, where he had been examining the map. 

“I can’t understand how this man happens to be 
on board of this ship,” said the captain. “ The 
junk did not come near us.” 

“Do you think he is one of the pirates?” asked 
Mr. Psi-ning, laughing. 

“ I suppose so.” 

The diplomat questioned the man for some time, 
and then translated what he said to the company. 

“He is not a pirate, and I judge that he speaks 
the truth. He was a prisoner on board the junk, and 
escaped by swimming to this ship.” 

“ How did he get on board of the ship ? He did 
not come through the planking, did he ? ” said the 
captain. 

“ I should think not. He says he swam from the 
junk when the mast was shot away. He got hold of 
a rope which he calls the bobstay. He has served on 
an English ship, and learned the names of a few of 


THE PIRATICAL JUNKS 


19 


the ropes,” the mandarin explained. “ He wants to 
be a sailor on board of your ship.” 

“ I don’t think we need any more sailors. But if 
you are ready, Mr. Psi-ning, we will begin the lec- 
ture,” replied the commander, as he conducted the 
distinguished Chinaman to the rostrum. 


20 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER III 

A GENERAL VIEW OF JAPAN 

“ Ladies and gentlemen, it affords me very great 
pleasure to present to you Mr. Psi-ning, who is about 
as well acquainted with Japan as with China, and 
who very kindly consents to deliver the lecture relat- 
ing to that country. We are already very greatly in- 
debted to him for the extraordinary pains he took in 
Shang-hai and Pekin to enable us to see those places ; 
and I am confident that we should have known far 
less of China without the facilities he afforded us by 
the aid of his influential position near the throne of 
the empire,” said Captain Ringgold in introducing 
the excellent and powerful friend they had made. 

“ My friends, although I wear the costume of 
China, and love my own country as you do America, 
I passed seven years in the United States, three in 
England, and two in France. I w T as so long in insti- 
tutions of learning in your country that I think I am 
practically an American, and I hope to live there 
again at no distant time.” 

The audience applauded the speaker very vigor- 
ously. They had become very well acquainted with 
him in Pekin and Shang-hai, and were under the 
greatest obligations to him for the attentions he had 


A GENERAL VIEW OF JAPAN 


21 


bestowed upon them ; and he could have done no more 
if he had devoted his whole time to them. They 
were very grateful to him, and loved and respected 
him for his excellent character, his kindness of heart, 
and the zeal with which he served them. It was 
evident to them that he had become a man after the 
model of the highest type of an American. 

“ Ladies and gentlemen, I have often visited the 
principal parts of Japan, and have travelled over 
nearly the whole country ; but I hope I shall not 
weary you with my remarks. It is not my fault 
that the subject consists largely of dry details. In 
going over the country you will find quite as much 
to interest you as you did in China, though both 
countries have their beauties and their peculiarities. 
You will not find the native portions of Tokyo, Kobe, 
and Yokohama at all like New York ; and the very 
strangeness of the scene will occupy your entire at- 
tention. 

“ Of course you have heard all about Marco Polo, 
the great mediaeval traveller who wandered about 
Asia, and lived in the country of the great Kublai 
Khan. He called Japan Zipangu, after the native 
name Nippon, which means 1 Land of the Eising Sun.’ 
This is not very different from the poetic naming of 
your American Indians, and it is not very strange 
that the regions farthest east should be called so. 
You will find the name Nippon extensively used in 
Japan, as the Nippon Yusen Kwaisha, which means 
the Japan Mail Steamship Company. 


22 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ Japan consists of four large islands, and a vast 
number of smaller ones. The largest is Honshu, 
which is regarded as the mainland of the country. 
This is the body of the territory, -as you may see on 
this excellent map, which I am informed was made 
by an officer of the ship, and it is one of the best 
large maps of Japan I have seen ; ” and the company 
liberally applauded this remark. “ Shikoku lies 
south of it, while Kiushiu is still farther south. 
North of Honshu is the island of Yezo. Formerly 
the southern part of Saghalin belonged to ( Japan ; 
but it was exchanged with Russia for a portion of 
the Kurile Islands in 1875. South of the southern 
island are the Loochoo Islands, which you will soon 
see, I think. 

“ Japan is situated between 24° 6' and 50° 56' 
north latitude. It therefore lies in about the same 
latitude as the United States. Its longitude is be- 
tween 122° 45' and 156° 32' east. On the north of 
the islands is the Sea of Okhotsk, on the east the 
Pacific Ocean, on the south the eastern part of the 
China Sea, and on the west the Sea of Japan. The 
islands contain an area of 155,000 square miles. 
The Statesman’s Year Book gives it as 147,655 ; but 
very likely one includes the islands while the other 
does not. Taking the larger area for comparison, 
it is about the same as that of the State of California, 
which is one of your largest States, though not so 
large as Texas by 100,000 square miles. 

“ The population in 1891 was 40,453,461. The last 


A GENERAL VIEW OF JAPAN 


23 


census of the United States gave 62,622,250, or one- 
half as large again as Japan, though doubtless it is 
much larger than that at the present time. The 
population of Japan increased three and a half 
millions in eight years from 1887. Tokyo has 1,389,- 
000 inhabitants, and there is therefore not so large 
as New York by half a million people. Osaka has 
476,000, Kioto 279,000, Nagoya 162,000, Kobe 136,- 
968, and Yokohama 122,000. These figures are very 
dry, I know ; but you cannot get a correct idea of 
the country without them. Of course you cannot re- 
member them, but they plant an idea of the rela- 
tive size of cities and countries in your minds. 

“ Japan is a mountainous country. I suppose you 
believe, as I do, that the bottom of the sea is just 
like the surface of the land, so far as its level is con- 
cerned. If some of these Japanese giants should 
drink up all the water of the Pacific Ocean, we 
should see precisely the aspect on the bottom that 
we now see on the face of the countries. You can 
imagine the water banished long enough to enable 
you to examine the bottom, and to roam over the 
mountains and through the valleys that are now con- 
cealed by the salt water. If you should cross the 
Pacific on dry land, you would find a country as ir- 
regular and rough as the Rocky Mountains. On the 
other hand, if the continent of America should be 
covered with water, or the greater portion of it, all 
the higher mountains would become islands. 

“ Now, the islands of Japan are simply the tops 


24 


PACIFIC SHORES 


of mountains, or extended elevations. The same is 
true of the Philippine Islands, and, in fact, of all 
the islands of the ocean. You can look upon Japan 
as the upper part of a territory rising from the bot- 
tom of the sea; and the same is true of the islands 
we see around us at the present moment. When 
Japan was given to the upper world where it is now, 
a very rough region was thrown into the daylight, 
and you will find it very like the Kocky Mountains. 
It is said to be one of the most mountainous coun- 
tries in the world, though of course the elevations 
are not so high as those of India and South America. 

“The highest in Japan is Fuji-san, 12,365 feet 
high. It is capped by a beautiful silver cone, which 
you will see as we approach Yokohama, if the weather 
is clear. You will see it in going about the country 
in almost any direction. There are a number of 
other lofty mountains from six to ten thousand feet 
high. Yezo has eight active volcanoes. It is a 
volcanic region, and earthquakes prevail in various 
parts of the country. When you go to Kobe you 
will see the effects of one that occurred a few years 
ago. There are only two lakes of any considerable 
size, — Lake Biwa, near Kioto, and Inawshiro, between 
Tokyo and Sendai. 

“ The climate of Japan varies greatly. I have suf- 
fered much from cold in Tokyo in January. A heavy 
rain lasted for a couple of days ; and then the wind 
flew round to the north-west, and blew hard for two 
days. With clothing for zero weather I took a jin- 


A GENERAL VIEW OF JAPAN 


25 


rickisha to go about the city. With a lap-robe over 
my knees, and another wound around my feet, I could 
not stand it more than an hour at a time. The ther- 
mometer dropped down to 16, and we used to call 
that pretty cold weather when I lived in New Eng- 
land. But the average temperature in Tokyo for the 
year is 57.7°. In summer it may rise to 96°, about 
equal to New York. In Hakodate the extremes are 
2° and 84°. The hot weather begins early in July, 
and usually continues till the middle of September. 
Late in the autumn is the driest and pleasantest, and 
the best for travelling. In Tokyo not more than five 
inches of snow remain on the ground, while in the 
north-west eighteen or twenty feet are common. 

“ An average of 145 inches of rain falls in different 
years, and no month passes without rain. Typhoons 
are liable to occur in summer, but are more destruc- 
tive in autumn. The climate is generally healthy, 
though it is debilitating to some Europeans. Thun- 
der-storms are neither frequent nor violent. 

“ Chestnut, oak, pine, beech, elm, cherry, elder, 
sycamore, maple, cypress, and many other trees grow, 
such as you find in England and America. From a 
kind of mulberry paper is made, the bark and young 
twigs being used for the purpose. The vegetable 
wax-tree is a remarkable plant. The bamboo is one 
of the most common and useful productions. Palms, 
including the sago, and pines grow side by side. The 
flora of Japan bears a great resemblance to that of 
the country between the Mississippi and the Atlantic 


26 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Ocean. Flowers of all kinds are abundant, and are 
carefully cultivated. 

“Wild animals are not abundant in Japan. No 
real wolf is found there, though a wild dog takes his 
place. The wild boar is killed, and a black bear is 
found in the mountains north of Tokyo. There are 
some monkeys in the country with a bright crimson 
face. Deer are protected and hunted in some places, 
and not in others. There is a variety of snakes, but 
only one that is poisonous. The horse is not the 
noble animal we find in England and America; but 
of late years considerable and very careful attention 
has been given to the improvement of the animal. 
Draught oxen are used on the main island. Cows 
for giving milk have been introduced in recent years. 
No donkeys are to be seen. Pork is raised now for 
food. There are no goats, and sheep do not thrive, 
The dog is an ugly-looking brute, and the house-cat 
has only the stump of a tail. 

“Numerous water-birds — cranes, storks, herons, 
coots, and others, especially cormorants — are trained 
to catch fish, and the practice is said to date back 
eleven hundred years.” 

“We have seen them at it in China,” said Mrs. 
Bel grave. 

“ The custom prevails in China as well as here. 
Of all the birds, the fly-catcher is the most beautiful, 
and there is an abundance of game birds. The rivers 
of Yezo swarm with salmon, which are salted to sup- 
ply the southern market. Trout are taken in the 


A GENERAL VIEW OF JAPAN 


27 


rivers of the interior. I have noticed in the bay of 
Yokohama several small American yachts, which 
come out here for sporting purposes, and I suppose 
they are brought on the decks of steamers. Oysters 
abound here, and they are planted in beds as in Amer- 
ica. Lobsters are highly valued for the table. I am 
sorry to say that gnats and mosquitoes feed upon the 
flesh and blood of American citizens in this country, 
though they are not as troublesome as they might be. 

“The chief occupation of the people of Japan is 
agriculture. The soil is not naturally very fertile; 
but the people are very careful and systematic far- 
mers, and are very well educated in cropping and 
rotating. The greatest care is given to their ma- 
nures, which is generally applied in liquid form, as 
in China. One of the principal manures is night-soil 
from the neighboring towns and villages. Rice is 
the staple production, and it is the principal food 
of the people. The various grains are raised, in- 
cluding Indian corn, pease, and beans. The staple 
vegetable is a large white radish. Of Japanese 
fruits, persimmons and oranges are the only fruits 
that are considered really good. The plums, peaches, 
and cherries are very poor. The trees are raised for 
their blossoms only. The culture of tea was intro- 
duced from China, and prevails extensively in the 
middle and the south. The amount raised is about 
22,000,000 pounds. Sericulture, or the raising of 
silk-worms for the manufacture of silk, is on the 
increase, and cotton and hemp are widely grown. 


28 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Over 90,000,000 pounds of sugar were produced a few 
years ago; and much tobacco is raised, but it is of 
inferior quality. There are two agricultural col- 
leges, provided with foreign professors, one in Tokyo, 
and the other in Sapporo in Yezo. 

“ Mineralogy receives its share of attention in 
Japan, and about all the metals are mined there. 
Its mineral resources are considerable, and the gov- 
ernment some years ago spent large sums of money 
in developing them. It has since permitted private 
enterprise to work them. Gold, silver, copper, iron, 
lead, antimony, tin, sulphur, coal, are found in the 
various islands. Gold is mainly worked in the 
island of Sado, and silver mostly on the main island. 
Coal-beds extend from Nagasaki to Yezo. Some pe- 
troleum is found in small quantities, and the supply 
of sulphur is believed to be inexhaustible and of 
wonderful purity, 

“ I can easily believe that you have found these 
details very wearisome, but I cannot see that I 
could have been faithful to the duty assigned to me 
if I had omitted them. I felt obliged to tell you 
what is produced in Japan, and I think you will 
remember some of it ; and when you return to Amer- 
ica questions will be asked of you which you will 
desire to answer. It is believed that an era of com- 
mercial and educational prosperity is dawning upon 
Japan, and indeed it has made wonderful progress in 
its advance as a nation. I have given you a general 
view of the country ; but it remains for me to add 


A GENERAL VIEW OF JAPAN 


29 


something of the history of Japan, and I hope it will 
not prove to be so dull and dry as the details I have 
already given. Perhaps you had better take a rest 
for a time.” 

“ I think it is well to have a recess, Mr. Psi-ning ; 
but no apology is necessary for the interesting de- 
tails you have given us, and it seemed to me that 
your audience gave excellent attention to your lec- 
ture,” said Captain Binggold ; and General Noury 
made a remark to the same effect. 

For half an hour the Italian band gave a concert 
at the request of the pacha, and the company rested 
themselves by walking about the deck. 


80 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER IV 

SOMETHING ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN* 

The mandarin took his place on the platform, and 
was received with a decided demonstration of ap- 
plause. He was a modest man, and it seemed very 
difficult for him to believe that he had said anything 
that was worth hearing. He had been called upon 
to give a simple account of the physical features of 
the country, the occupation of the inhabitants, and 
the productions ; and it was hardly possible to be 
eloquent in the performance of his duty. He spoke 
clearly and distinctly, and was heard by every person 
on the platform. 

“ I hope an epitome of the history of Japan will 
prove to be more interesting than the details which 
I have already given,” said the speaker, as he laid a 
pile of papers on the table before him. “ I shall 
give but a hasty sketch of the early history of the 
country, for it is difficult to separate fact from fic- 
tion. Jim mu Tenno, who became the ruler of Japan 
660 years b.c., is considered the founder of the pres- 
ent dynasty of monarchs. We have this as a fact, 
and that is about all that exists. Then for a thou- 
sand years history is cloudy and unreliable. It is 
said that the Empress Jingo (a strange name in your 


SOMETHING ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN 31 

ears) invaded and conquered Korea two hundred and 
one years after the Christian era, and the Korean 
civilization was brought to Japan by this event. 
We know but little of this peninsula, which is sep- 
arated only by the channel of Korea from Japan, 
and we have not a very distinct idea of the Korean 
civilization. 

“ In 552 Buddhism was brought from Korea into 
Japan, and forty years later became the established 
religion of the country. The government established 
the Buddhist hierarchy in 624 ” — 

u The what ? ” asked Mrs. Blossom, a very honest 
and good woman whose education had been neg- 
lected ; and the question brought a smile to the 
faces of some of the company. 

“ The priesthood — the various orders of priests 
who have charge of the religious services of the 
nation,’’ replied the speaker. “ You have none in 
America; but the Archbishop of Canterbury is the 
chief official of the Church of England, and the 
hierarchy includes the bishops, deans, deacons, and 
all the church officials. At this time very close re- 
lations existed between China and Japan, and the 
two civilizations became very much the same. Dur- 
ing the following five centuries, the people of Japan 
made great progress in the arts of civilization. The 
government was officially organized under the Fuji- 
wara family, whose members held all the offices, and 
supplied the imperial house with the empresses. 

“ The military class in Japan at this time were 


32 


PACIFIC SHORES 


kept in a subordinate position, contrary to the gen- 
eral rule. But the Fujiwara family had become 
weakened in its hold upon the government, for five 
centuries of power had demoralized its members. 
The military class rose against the government in 
1192, and hurled the emperor from power. The 
Shogun, which means the generalissimo, Yoritomo, 
seized the reins of power. The usurpation of the 
supreme authority by this official has been misunder- 
stood in Europe. After this event it is supposed 
that there were two emperors, one the. Mikado, sup- 
posed to be the spiritual ruler, while the other, the 
Shogun, paid homage to him, and actually governed 
the nation under the Chinese name of Tycoon. As 
you say in America, things were very much mixed. 

“For the next four hundred years, until 1603, an 
uninterrupted period of bloodshed followed, with all 
the miseries of civil war and strife. The military 
officials of Yoritomo established a feudal baronage, 
and made themselves practically independent of the 
central power. Even the monasteries became mili- 
tary headquarters. This disorder continued, some- 
times with civil war between the north and the south 
of the islands, until the Shoguns, made powerful by 
Yoritomo, became weak and fell to the ground, when 
the Avisdom and military genius of Hideyoshi pre- 
pared the way for something better. Fie died in 
1598 ; but five years later the most illustrious gen- 
eral and statesman, Tokugawa, appeared upon the 
stage of action, and gave peace to the country. 


SOMETHING ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN 33 

“ In 1592 Hicleyoshi had conducted an expedition 
against Korea, in which he damaged the country to 
an extent from which it has not yet recovered. 
Iyeasu was victorious over .the combination of south- 
ern barons near Lake Biwa, and fixed his seat of 
government near the Bay of Yedo, at the head of 
which is Tokyo. He was supported by the northern 
clans, which enabled him to consolidate his power, 
and found a permanent succession which lasted until 
1868. Now, in spite of all the interruptions and dis- 
orders I have mentioned, it is claimed that the pres- 
ent emperor descended from Jimmu in 660 b.c. The 
power of the Shoguns was overthrown in 1868, in the 
battle near Lake Biwa which I have mentioned. 

“ As you are doubtless aware, it has been the policy 
of Japan to exclude foreigners from the country. 
The Portuguese, who first landed in Japan in 1543, 
carried on a profitable trade ; but the authorities took 
the alarm, and banished all of them. Christianity 
was interdicted in 1624. The Portuguese and their 
religion were finally banished in 1638. From that 
time the Japanese government maintained the most 
rigid policy of isolation. No foreign vessel was per- 
mitted to touch at any of its ports under any pre- 
tence whatever. 

“ The Dutch obtained a footing at Nagasaki, or 
on the island of Desima, and established a factory 
there. While they were still in possession of the 
place, Commodore Perry, with a fleet of seven Ameri- 
can naval vessels, entered the harbor of Uraga. ‘ He 


34 


PACIFIC SHORES 


meant business/ to use an Americanism ; and in due 
time lie obtained a treaty which permitted the ships 
of your country to trade with Japan. Other coun- 
tries followed the example of the United States till 
sixteen had obtained the same privileges. Five ports 
were opened to foreign commerce, in which the resi- 
dences of foreigners were designated and regulated 
under their own consuls. They were allowed to 
travel within twenty-five miles of these ports, and 
passports were given by the government f or # greater 
distances. 

“ The fall of feudalism was expedited by the arri- 
val of foreigners. The Shogun still existed ; he was 
never the emperor, and the most powerful clans were 
dissatisfied with him. His power was failing, and 
the general desire was to unite the empire in the 
hands of the Mikado. The result was that the old 
and narrow ideas of the Shogun were crushed out, 
and the course of empire was opened for Japan. 
Yedo was recognized as the centre of the nation’s 
life, and it was decided to make it the capital ; but 
Yedo was associated with the Shoguns, and they 
changed the name to Tokyo — 1 eastern capital.’ 

“ Of course it is not possible for me to mention all 
the events in the history of Japan ; but there has 
been a great change in the policy of the court. 
Formerly seclusion was the rule, and the royal per- 
sonages were extremely exclusive; but within the 
last ten years the emperor and empress have been 
present on some public occasions, Haru, the present 


SOMETHING ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN 35 

crown prince, is the first of the long dynasty to be 
educated in a public institution. A new nobility has 
been created within the same period. It consists of 
five orders, — princes or dukes 11, marquises 28, 
counts 85, viscounts 355, barons 102; and from 
these orders are drawn the members of the new 
upper chamber of representatives. The election laws 
are rather too complicated to be given, and I think 
it will not interest many of you ; and it may be 
found in the Year Book, a copy of which I saw in 
your well-supplied library. 

“With the exception of 12,000 Ainos, the Japan- 
ese islands are said by some to be inhabited by a 
single race, speaking several dialects of the same 
language. But it is not admitted by all that they 
are of the same race, and they are believed to be 
originally Tartars who have made their way into 
the islands through Korea. 

“ The people are divided into two classes, the gov- 
erning and the governed. The former are of the 
military class, aristocratic, high-spirited, and carry 
with them an air of superiority, with high ideas of 
honor. There are about 4,000 families of this class. 
One of the customs growing out of these elevated 
notions of honor is the hari-kari, or ‘ happy de- 
spatch.’ It means official suicide ; but it ceased to 
exist in 1868, when so many changes were made in 
the customs of the country. It was estimated that 
five hundred suicides a year occurred before the 
practice was abandoned. All military men, and all 


36 


PACIFIC SHORES 


persons holding civil offices under the government, if 
they committed an act which dishonored them, were 
bound to disembowel themselves. A dagger about 
nine inches long was used, and the act was per- 
formed with dignity and solemnity in the presence 
of official and other witnesses. One or two gashes 
were made, and this was considered sufficient to com- 
plete the atonement ; and the ceremony was finished 
by another executioner, sometimes a friend of the 
same rank as the victim, who cut off the head with 
a single blow of a long sword. 

“ I do not propose to speak to you at length of the 
manners and customs of the Japanese. You will 
see them for yourselves; and a single glance will 
give you a better idea of buildings, or whatever else 
may come in your way, than a long talk from me. 
Tokyo is thoroughly Japanese; and I suppose Yoko- 
hama is also, though it consists really of two towns, 
the native and the foreign, and all except natives are 
classed with the latter. One peculiarity of these 
places is that they are not numbered by streets, as 
in other cities of the world, but the whole city is 
enumerated without regard to streets. No. 49 may 
be a mile from No. 50, and in a street far away 
from it.” 

“ I should not think any one could find the house 
he wanted,” suggested Mrs. Belgrave. 

“ It often is a difficult matter, and I cannot see 
the advantage of the method. They have streets in 
these cities, and some of the shopkeepers make use 


SOMETHING ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN 37 


of the names. The rickshaw men, people about the 
hotels and others, learn the location of the bankers, 
the principal stores, and the residences of prominent 
men, so that there is very little difficulty in finding 
those you are looking for. There is an association 
of licensed guides in Yokohama, who also act in 
Tokyo ; and one of these will enable you to find any 
one you wish. As all over the world, your hotel will 
take care of you, and put you in the way of going 
anywhere. But I think you have heard enough, and 
probably you would rather observe the islands, among 
which we have now come, rather than hear any more 
about Japan.’’ 

Mr. Psi-ning made a very graceful bow, and re- 
tired amid the hearty applause of the audience. 
The islands were not very attractive to the voyagers 
who had sailed so many thousand miles, and they 
retained their seats on the platform. 

“ Did you ever cross the Pacific Ocean, Captain 
Ringgold ? ” asked Louis Belgrav'e. 

“ I have ; more than once,” replied the commander. 

“ I suppose it is less stormy than the Atlantic,” 
added Louis. 

“ Perhaps as a rule it is ; but it depends upon the 
season of the year,” replied the captain. “From 
San Francisco to Yokohama, by the most northern 
route, in winter you would find very cold and rough. 
Straight across in January it would be likely to be 
rather trying weather to persons not accustomed to 
the sea. I made this voyage as a passenger not 


38 


PACIFIC SHOKES 


many years ago, but it was not what I should call 
very bad weather. If you visited the Sandwich 
Islands on the voyage, that would take you into 
more southern latitudes.” 

“ Where are we now, Mr. Scott ? ” asked Louis of 
the third officer, who was also one of the “Big Four.” 

“ We are just coming into Van Diemen’s Strait, 
which lies between the most southern of the four 
Japanese islands and a considerable group of islands 
with queer names,” replied Scott. 

“All the names over here are queer,” laughed 
Louis. “ But I was thinking, if we kept our present 
course for a few days, we should be on our way 
home. Mother, we are within about twenty days or 
less of Yon Blonk Park.” 

“ And where is that, if you please ? ” inquired the 
Chinese gentleman. 

“It is in New Jersey, not far from New York.” 

“ But I suppose we shall not go there at present,” 
said Mrs. Belgrave. 

“There is a fine line of steamers running from 
Hong Kong and Yokohama to Vancouver, in con- 
nection with the Canadian Pacific Bailroad to Mon- 
treal, and thence to any part of America or Europe.” 

“ But which way shall we go home, Captain Bing- 
gold ?” asked the mother of the owner. 

“It will be a long voyage, Mrs. Belgrave, for it 
will take you across the Pacific Ocean.” 

“ But we don’t go straight across from here, 
mother,” interposed Louis. 


SOMETHING ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN 39 

“ I think we had better mark out our route in 
Japan, and the general outline of our homeward 
voyage,” said the commander, walking to the head 
of the platform where the map of Japan was hang- 
ing. 

“ I suppose we go to Tokyo in the steamer,” added 
Mrs. Belgrave. 

“ We do not ; the bottom is too near the top of 
the water in the upper part of the gulf. We go by 
rail from Yokohama. We come to anchor off the 
pier, at the head of which is the custom-house. We 
shall go to Tokyo, explore Yokohama, both the for- 
eign and the native town ; then to the vicinity of 
Fuji, to Kioto, Nikko, Kobe, Osaka, and other local- 
ities to be selected after consultation with a guide, 
whom we shall find at the hotel ; to whom I wrote 
from Shang-hai. When we sail from Yokohama for 
the south, we shall pass through the Inland Sea, and 
go round to Nagasaki, from which we shall take our 
final departure.” 

“ And where then ? ” asked Mrs. Belgrave. 

“ Our course will be nearly due south ; and after a 
voyage of about two thousand miles we shall reach 
the eastern end of the island of Papua, or New 
Guinea ; ” and the captain pointed out the island. 

“ Do we stop there ?'” inquired Louis. 

“ I don’t know that it would be prudent to do so, 
for the inhabitants are still in a barbarous condition. 
If all goes well, it is my purpose to visit Brisbane, 
Sydney, and Melbourne, and perhaps other cities of 


40 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Australia, then to Wellington or Auckland in New 
Zealand. Some of the islands of the Pacific will be 
visited, especially the Sandwich Islands. Passing 
out of the Pacific by the Strait of Magellan, and 
then working north, calling at Monte Video, Rio 
Janeiro, and taking in some of the Windward and 
Leeward Islands.” 

“ Shall we ever get home ? ” asked Mrs. Belgrave. 

“ I have no doubt we shall. I have not yet heard 
of any one on board of either ship who is tired of 
the cruise,” replied the commander, as the bell rang 
for dinner. 


ARRIVAL AT YOKOHAMA 


41 


CHAPTER V 

ARRIVAL AT YOKOHAMA 

The party from the Blanche remained to dinner 
on board of the Guardian-Mother, and then spent 
the evening in the cabin, and the occasion was quite 
as merry as usual. The Chinese guest enjoyed the 
games ; and the gospel hymns greatly pleased him, 
as well as the other members of the company. They 
were all sent back by the boats at eleven o’clock. 
When the early risers of Captain Ringgold’s ship 
went on deck the next morning, they found that it 
was a rainy day. The sea was smooth ; but it poured 
in torrents all day long, and the atmosphere was 
so thick that the shore could not be seen. The 
ladies and gentlemen spent their time in the cabin, 
music-room, and boudoir, in reading, studying, and 
various games. 

The ships continued on their course during the 
night, making their usual fourteen knots an hour. 
When the passengers woke on the following morn- 
ing, Cloe, the stewardess, Sparks and Sordy, the 
waiters, were in demand, to inform them in regard 
to the weather. A more beautiful morning could 
not be imagined ; for there was not a cloud in the 
sky, and all the company were on deck before break- 


42 


PACIFIC SHORES 


fast. It was understood that they were to land in 
the afternoon of that day; and after all that had 
been said, read, and anticipated, it was really a very 
exciting time. It had been discovered that Japan 
was a very beautiful country; and for two or three 
years everybody that ever travelled at all was either 
going there, or wanted to go. If it was not the 
paradise of the world, it was about as near it as 
anything terrestrial could be. The ladies and gen- 
tlemen that walked the deck before breakfast were 
impatient to place their feet upon the shore of the 
wonderful land. 

“ I think you had better not anticipate too much 
in this fairy-land, as you choose to regard it, Mrs. 
Belgrave,” said the captain as he met her on deck. 
“ It is possible to be disappointed, you know.” 

“ I did not suppose we could be disappointed in 
regard to Japan,” replied the lady. “ Everybody has 
been talking about these islands, and everybody has 
seemed determined to come here.” 

“ That is the very reason why you should guard 
against being disappointed. I have no doubt it is 
a beautiful country,, for I have seen considerable 
of it. If you expect only what is reasonable, I think 
you will enjoy the country all the more.” 

“ I will endeavor to keep within reason,” replied 
the lady. “ But where are we now, Captain Ring- 
gold ? ” 

“ We are off the mainland, as the principal island 
is called, or Honshu. The coast is very irregular, 


ARRIVAL AT YOKOHAMA 


43 


and there are half a dozen seas extending from the 
strait through which we passed night before last. 
We are now in the sea of To-To-Minada. Another 
is the sea of Sagami. I think we shall come to 
anchor about three o’clock this afternoon, and you 
will sleep on shore to-night.” 

“ I shall be glad when we get there.” 

The ship was too far from the shore to obtain a 
good view of it ; but there was an occasional junk, 
and a great number of sampans, as all small boats 
are called in the East, the latter engaged in fishing. 
Everything in the shape of a junk or boat was 
closely scrutinized, even by the ladies ; and the boys 
criticised them to their hearts’ content. 

“ Ahead of us is the island of Oshima, or Vries 
Island, which lies near the entrance to the Gulf of 
Tokyo,” said the commander, as he joined a group 
of the passengers after noon. “Now you can see 
Fuji, the holy mountain, which is twelve thousand 
three hundred and sixty-five feet high. It is covered 
with snow except from July to September, and there- 
fore it nearly always presents that white cap which 
you see now. I should say that the Japanese is an 
exceedingly copious language, judging from the num- 
ber of different names given to this mountain. 
While Fuji is a sufficient name, it is often called 
Fuji-san, or Mount Fuji ; the poets call it Fuji- 
noyama, or the Mountain of Fuji; and foreigners 
make it Fusiyama. You can take your choice ; but 
Fuji answers the purpose as well as anything.” 


44 


PACIFIC SHORES 


The regular steamers of the lines that run from 
Canada and the United States do not takes pilots 
in going to Yokohama, but Captain Ringgold pro- 
cured one. Vries Island, as it is generally called, 
has a volcano two thousand five hundred feet high, 
which some visitors think it worth while to climb. 
Cape Su-zaki, at the entrance to the Gulf of Tokyo, 
was reached and passed, and Yokahama bordered the 
shore on the west. A long pier extended out into the 
bay, at which vessels loaded, and the custom-house 
stood on the shore at the junction with it. The 
cable rattled through the hawse-hole after the screw 
had been stopped, and the Guardian-Mother was fast 
to the bottom, the Blanche taking a position near 
her. 

The ship was hardly at anchor before a steam- 
launch came up to the gangway, which had been 
lowered, and a man in Japanese costume came on 
board. All the passengers were on deck ; and they 
gazed at him with interest, wondering who and 
what he was. He wore a long gown reaching down 
to his feet, with a belt around his waist. Outside 
of this garment he wore a sort of tunic with large 
sleeves, extending a little below his knees. He had 
a very pleasant face, and went directly to the com- 
mander with a letter in his hand, which he presented 
to him. 

“ You are the guide for whom I wrote from Shang- 
hai, and I am glad to see you,” said the captain. 

“ I am the guide, and I have been employed by 



A man in Japanese costume came on boakd 

Page 44 






























































ARRIVAL AT YOKOHAMA 


45 


many American families,” replied the Japanese, as 
lie presented his card. “ I am a member of the As- 
sociation of Guides for all parts of Japan.” 

“ K. Shimidzu,” said the commander, reading the 
name. “ Do I pronounce your name right ? ” 

“Quite right, sir.” 

“We shall probably want you for some time, and 
we had better understand the terms and conditions in 
the beginning.” 

“ That is the better way,” answered Shimidzu, with 
a pleasant smile. “ Guides are paid one yen a day 
for their services, and one yen for their bqard, in 
addition to their travelling expenses.” 

“ How much is a yen ? ” 

“That depends upon the value of silver.” 

“Then, we will leave that question to be settled 
later. We are going to a hotel on shore; and there 
are fourteen of us, though the Chinese gentleman will 
go to Tokyo to-morrow. What is the best hotel ? ” 

“ The Grand Hotel. Frank Dow, who passes bag- 
gage through the custom-house, is here in the steam- 
launch, and will land the whole of you.” 

“ But there are five more in the party on board the 
other steamer.” 

“Very well, sir; Dow will take the whole of you.” 

The members of the party had prepared their bag- 
gage for the stay on shore, and the stewards brought 
it on deck. It was placed in the launch by the sea- 
men, and she steamed to the Blanche. Scott had 
been included in the party. The commander had 


46 


PACIFIC SHORES 


already intimated that Captain and Mrs. Sharp were 
to join the company, and live at the hotel. The first 
business of the tourists was to visit the native and 
the foreign towns of Yokohama. General Noury and 
the princess were all ready, as well as the surgeon of 
the ship. Both of the captains were clothed in new 
uniforms ; and all the ladies and gentlemen were 
dressed rather richly, for they were not yet aware 
of the surroundings to which they would be intro- 
duced. The pacha and his wife were clothed in their 
richest Oriental costumes. 

The general wanted his Italian band, and Captaih 
Sharp had sent the musicians to the pier. The 
launch proceeded to the landing-place. The tour- 
ists had obtained a view of the Bund, as the street 
along the shore is called, upon which Frank Dow 
said the hotel was located. At the head of the steps 
at which they went ashore they found a great num- 
ber of jinrickishas, a vehicle which they had seen at 
Hong Kong, Shang-hai, and Pekin. All they had to 
do was to get into them at their own pleasure, but 
Shimidzu assisted them, and told the “ teams ” where 
to convey them. The Bund bordered the water ; and 
the land side of it was occupied by stores, offices, and 
dwelling-houses. It was difficult for the Americans 
to believe that they were in Japan, or anywhere ex- 
cept at home. The buildings were about the same, 
and the gardens in front of them were very attrac- 
tive. 

The first to enter the hotel were the captain and 


ARRIVAL AT YOKOHAMA 


47 


Mr. Psi-ning, whom lie was very particular to look 
out for. The manager of the hotel, Mr. Eppin- 
ger, received the guests ; and the commander spoke 
for the best accommodations in the house for him. 
The two Chinamen who were the accountants in the 
office evidently understood the quality of the distin- 
guished guest, and treated him w r ith the most marked 
deference. The pacha and the princess were the 
next to receive attention, and the manager was re- 
quested to give them the best available apartments. 
Mrs. Belgrave was then roomed, and all the others 
were disposed of at once. They all declared that 
they were exceedingly well lodged. The baggage 
came, passed through the custom-house without the 
attendance of the passengers, and all was quiet again. 

The members of the party soon found where the 
others were ; and the ladies began to gather in their 
rooms, and to make themselves at home. The “Big 
Four ” were in adjoining rooms, and their doors were 
all open. They had nothing but hand-bags, which 
were stuffed full of soiled clothing, and their first 
object was to send them to the wash. Louis rang 
his bell, and a rather diminutive Japanese servant 
presented himself. 

“ I wonder if these fellows can speak English,” 
said Louis. 

“ What use would they be here where there are so 
many English and Americans if they could not ? ” 
replied .Scott. 

“ Have you a wash-list ? ” 


48 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ Yes, sir,” replied tlie man very politely. 

“ Bring four of them,” added Louis. 

“ We can get along very well with such Japs. Do 
you mind how they dress ? ” asked Scott. 

“I don’t see any difference in their dress, except 
that they wear tights instead of trousers,” replied 
Louis, as the man brought several books, which were 
laundry-lists. 

The washing for the hotel appeared to be done 
by Y. Toyama; and all articles were charged at the 
same price, whether large or small, starched or not ; 
and the price was three yen a hundred. The servant 
took the bundles, and said they should be done the 
next day. 

“ I think we had better explore this caravansary,” 
said Louis when they had disposed of this business. 
u It seems to be a big hotel.” 

“ I can hardly believe I am in Japan,” said Morris 
Woolridge. 

“ Why not ? ” asked Louis. 

“ Because it seems just like any hotel in New 
York, and not a bit like those in Batavia, Singapore, 
Colombo, and other places where we have been.” 

They passed out of their rooms into the hall, and 
descended the stairs to the office. They could not 
make out what the two Chinamen there were for ; 
and they asked Shimidzu, whom they found near the 
counter. He told him that they were very expert 
and reliable accountants, and were skilful in business 
matters. 


ARRIVAL AT YOKOHAMA 


49 


“ What is this room, Shimidzu ? ” asked Scott, 
indicating an apartment near the office. 

“ That is a reading- and sitting-room. In back of 
it is the dining-room, large enough to seat three 
hundred people. If you will come with me, I will 
show you about the hotel.” 

“ Thank you ; we shall be glad to see the principal 
rooms.” 

From the office, the guide conducted them to the 
billiard-room. It contained six or eight .tables, and 
a bar extending across one end of the large apart- 
ment. The barkeepers and the cashier were all 
natives, and a very lively trade seemed to be in prog- 
ress all the time. A notice declared that “ chits” 
would not be accepted from people not staying in the 
hotel. 

“ What are chits ? ” asked Louis. 

No one could tell, and they were sure the word 
was not used in America; but Shimidzu said it was 
an order on the bar. Beyond the billiard-room they 
found a reading-room, which was supplied with mag- 
azines, English and Japanese papers. Passing out 
of the house, they came to the Water-street entrance 
of the hotel, where the jinrickisha men stand with 
their vehicles, and the street leads to a busy part 
of the town. 

By this time the Italian band had arrived, and 
had taken a stand on the piazza in front of the 
hotel. The party were promenading the piazza of 
the second story, which commanded a view of the 


50 


PACIFIC SHORES 


bay. Dinner was nearly ready, and the manager 
desired to place the musicians where the music could 
be enjoyed by all the guests. General Noury as- 
sented, and perhaps no better concert was ever given 
in the house. 


GUIDES AND WHISTLES FOR YOKOHAMA 51 


CHAPTER VI 

FIVE GUIDES AND WHISTLES FOR YOKOHAMA 

The tables of the Grand Hotel were of all sizes, 
and were arranged to accommodate any parties, and 
the nineteen that had just arrived were seated by 
themselves. Captain Ringgold, with Mr. Psi-ning on 
his right, sat at one end, with Mrs. Belgrave and 
Louis on his left, while General Noury and his wife 
occupied the other end. The pacha and the princess 
attracted no little attention. The bill of fare was 
elaborate enough for New York, and everybody was 
abundantly satisfied with it. The gentlemen attended 
the ladies to the drawing-room ; but they did not get 
beyond the vestibule, for a couple of Japanese flower- 
girls challenged their attention. They were greatly 
interested in the flowers, and not less in the girls. 

They were dressed in the usual robe, with large 
sleeves. They appeared to be about eighteen years 
old, of rather small stature, with rosy cheeks, and 
were quite pretty. On their feet, as the streets were 
somewhat muddy after the recent rain, they wore 
pattens, or wooden sandals. When they walked they 
made a noise like the clatter of- a grist-mill. 

“ How much is this little bouquet ? ” asked Mrs. 
Belgrave. 


52 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ Ten sen” replied the girl. 

“ Ten what ? ” 

“ Ten sen” interposed Shimidzu. “ It is just the 
same as ten cents.” 

All the ladies bought flowers, and then the gentle- 
men joined in the purchase, and in a few minutes the 
girls had sold out their entire stock. The ladies 
were very much interested in looking over the Japan- 
ese maidens, and tried to talk with them; but they 
could speak only just English enough to sell their 
flowers. They examined their dresses, which con- 
sisted mainly of an inner and an outer robe of a drab 
material. They wore a kind of grass slipper, which 
was kept on the foot with strings from the sole pass- 
ing between the great and other toes. They had 
sold out their wares ; and they put on their ashida, 
or pattens, a wooden sole with a couple of blocks on 
the bottom that raised them about two inches, lifting 
them out of the mud in the streets. They had only 
to slip their feet under a band across the top to put 
them on. 

“ Bless my stars ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Blossom, who 
was perhaps the most curious person among the 
ladies; “their stockings don’t come above their an- 
kles, and I should think they would freeze to death if 
the weather is ever any colder than it is now.” 

At this point they were interrupted by the appear- 
ance of Mr. Psi-ning, who was to leave for Tokyo. 
He took every person of the party by the hand, and 
said good-by ; but this was not a final parting, for 


GUIDES AND WHISTLES FOR YOKOHAMA 53 

they were to meet him again at the capital. But 
they had become very strong friends since they first 
met at Shang-hai. The Chinese gentleman took a 
phaeton which the commander had ordered for him, 
and with his valet on the box drove off. As soon as 
he had gone, Captain Ringgold took from his pocket 
a paper, and led the way into the reception-room, in- 
viting the others to follow him. When they were 
seated, he took a position in front of them with the 
paper in his hand. 

“ Ladies and gentlemen, there are eighteen of us,” 
he began. “ It is a rather large party to handle under 
present circumstances; for I have been unable to find 
a wagonette, or any other vehicle large enough to 
hold the whole, or even half of us. There are phae- 
tons and landaus, but I am told they are not the most 
convenient for seeing the sights of Yokohama; and I 
think we must use rickshaws.” 

“Use what, sir ? ” inquired Uncle Moses. 

“ Rickshaws. I am aware, of course, that the name 
of this exaggerated baby-carriage is jinrickisha; but 
life is short, and the word is so often used that it has 
been abbreviated to rickshaw. You will not be mis- 
taken if you use the short form.” 

At this moment Shimidzu appeared at the door of 
the apartment attended by four other men, all in full 
Japanese costume. The captain beckoned to him, 
and he stepped forward, and reported. 

“I have engaged four other guides and twenty- 
three jinrickisha,” said Shimidzu. 


54 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ Hold on, Shimidzu ! 77 exclaimed Dr. Hawkes. 
“ If I could divide myself so that I could ride on two 
rickshaws, I could get along very well, and so could 
Brother Avoirdupois. But it is hardly practicable. 
When I came up from the wharf in one of those go- 
carts, I felt as though I had been trussed to go on 
the spit for a cannibal dinner . 77 

“ And I had the same experience , 77 added Uncle 
Moses. 

“ Now, Mr. Shimidzu, haven’t you a baby-carriage 
that is big enough to take in a full-sized baby ? 77 
inquired the surgeon. 

“ Yes, sir ; we have jinrickisha for two persons . 77 

“ Procure two of .them, Shimidzu , 77 said the com- 
mander ; and the guide bowed. “ But, my Japanese 
friend, this party will call the vehicle a rickshaw, as 
I noticed that most people did in Shang-hai. The 
name is as long as the coach-whip of a man-of-war, 
and the four syllables may be cut down to two with- 
out damaging the word or the carriage . 77 

“Very well, Captain Ringgold, we will conform to 
your usage , 77 replied Shimidzu ; and the four guides 
standing at the door all bowed. 

These men were then all called into the room, and 
stationed where they could hear what was said. At 
the request of the captain, Shimidzu proceeded to in- 
troduce them individually to the members of the 
party ; for they were guides for Tokyo, Kobe, Nikko, 
Osaka, Fuji, and the Hakone district, and they were 
likely to be employed for at least two weeks. 


GUIDES AND WHISTLES FOR YOKOHAMA 55 

“ This, ladies and gentlemen, is Mr. Machida. He 
has spent some time in New York, and has been em- 
ployed in Japan by the best American families,” the 
chief guide began. 

“ Make a note of him, Mr. Belgrave, for he will be 
your special guide,” added the commander ; and Louis 
went forward, and shook hands with Mr. Machida. 
“ Shimidzu is our guide-in-chief. He is sufficiently 
noted to have his name wrongly given, and his pic- 
ture appears in more than one guide-book for this 
country. He has been employed by many of our 
countrymen, and I heard of him at home.” 

“This is Mr. Hirata Matsu,” continued the chief 
guide. “It is not necessary that you give any of 
us a title, though the Japanese are a very polite peo- 
ple. You may call this man Hirata or Matsu, as you 
choose.” 

“ Matsu is the shorter,” said the doctor with a 
laugh. 

“ Very well, Dr. Hawkes ; he will be the guide of 
the quartette in which you belong,” added the cap- 
tain, glancing at his paper. 

“ This is Mr. W. Muto ; and that is not a long 
name,” Shimidzu proceeded. 

“ He will attend to your party, General Noury.” 

The pacha stepped forward with his wife on his 
arm, and took the hand of Muto, as did the princess. 

« This is Hirata Oto ; and you can ask for nothing 
shorter than his last name,” continued the chief 
guide. 


5G 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ He will attend to you and your wife, Captain 
Sharp. How they have all been presented, and I 
shall describe my plan in detail ; but I will say that 
if you do not like it, it can readily be changed. I 
have been in Yokohama before, and I know something 
of sight-seeing here. If we all went out together 
in eighteen rickshaws, it would be very difficult 
to learn anything about the place except what you 
could take in through your eyes,” the commander 
proceeded. “Each of the guides must be provided 
with a rickshaw, and then it is not easy to ask and 
answer questions. I have provided five guides, and 
if needed I will have five more, as I have been in- 
structed by Mr. Belgrave and his trustee to incur any 
and every needed expense to make the party happy 
and comfortable, as well as to profit by their travels.” 

This statement was received with great applause ; 
and in the recess of a few minutes the ladies and 
gentlemen improved their acquaintance with the 
guides, though they had not yet been informed who 
were to compose the parties to whom the several 
guides had been assigned. The captain took a Japa- 
nese bill from his pocket-book, and handed it to 
Shimidzu. 

“ This bill is for ten yens,” said he. 

“ Ten yen, sir,” added the guide. 

“ Why not ten yens ? for surely ten makes the 
noun plural.” 

“ There is no plural in the J apanese language,” re- 
plied Shimidzu. 


GUIDES AND WHISTLES FOR YOKOHAMA 57 


“ Then, that is the reason why you have said ‘ jin- 
rickisha * when you spoke of more than one of them.” 

“Yes, sir; we always say 1,000 yen.” 

“ I am glad to understand it, as the rest of the 
party will be,” added the captain. 

“ What am I to do with this bill of ten yen , Cap- 
tain Ringgold ? ” asked the chief guide. 

“You will send" out and buy half a dozen ordinary 
whistles, good-sized ones.” 

“If we are to ride in baby-carriages, we ought to 
have whistles to play with,” chuckled Dr. Hawkes. 

“ But they are to be useful rather than to serve 
as playthings for little babies like you,” returned the 
commander. “Perhaps we ought to have a whistle 
for each rickshaw.” 

“ Certainly Brother Avoirdupois will need one.” 

“ You can buy a rattle and present to him. Now, 
my friends, I have tried to make up the five parties 
of three or four each as I thought would be agreeable 
to them ; but I am not sure that I have succeeded, 
and they can be changed every day if desired.” 

“We shall be perfectly satisfied,” interposed Gen- 
eral Noury. 

“ I could not even put the ‘ Big Four ? together, 
for I knew that some of them were wanted else- 
where. Shimidzu’s company will consist of Mrs. 
Belgrave, Professor Giroud, and Captain Ringgold.” 

Several looked knowingly at several others, and 
there was a smile throughout the room; for it was 
understood as well as though it had been in the 


58 


PACIFIC SHORES 


newspapers that the commander was very partial to 
Mrs. Belgrave, who was a widow of thirty-five, still 
handsome, and a very attractive woman. It was 
well known, too, that he had desired to marry her 
before she had made her unfortunate marriage with 
her second husband. He was always very attentive 
to her 5 and Mrs. Blossom would have gossiped more 
than she did about the matter if the “ first lady,” 
as Louis’s mother was sometimes called, had not 
reproved her for doing so. 

“ Matsu’s party will be Mr. and Mrs. Woolridge, 
Dr. Hawkes, and Squire Scarburn, as Uncle Moses 
was seldom designated. 

“ Quite satisfactory ! ” exclaimed the magnate of 
Fifth Avenue ; the “ Cupids ” repeated the remark, 
and the captain was much pleased. 

“ Muto’s company will be General and Mrs. Floury, 
Dr. Henderson, and Morris Woolridge, the latter by 
request of the lady,” the commander proceeded. 

“ Thank you, Captain Ringgold,” said the prin- 
cess, with whom the youngest of the “ Big Four ” 
had become quite a favorite, and hardly less so with 
her husband. 

“ Oto will attend to Captain and Mrs. Sharp and 
Mr. Scott, the third officer of the Guardian-Mother,” 
added the commander. 

Just then a servant of the hotel brought in the 
whistles, and put the change on the table. The cap- 
tain asked the price of each. They were very cheap, 
and he sent for a dozen and a quarter more. 


GUIDES AND WHISTLES FOR YOKOHAMA 59 

“ The last company will consist of Mr. Belgrave, 
Miss Blanche, Mrs. Blossom, and Felix McGavonty, 
under the care of Machida. I have sent for more 
whistles,” continued the captain, picking up one 
from the table, and blowing a strong blast upon it 
which might have been heard all about the hotel. “I 
have decided to have a whistle in every rickshaw.” 

“ Not as a plaything ? ” queried the surgeon. 

“For use only. When any one of the party sees 
something which needs an explanation, he will pipe 
twice on the whistle, and all rickshaw men will stop, 
and bring their vehicles together. Then the guide 
will tell the party all they want to know.” 

“ Excellent, Captain ! ” exclaimed several, who saw 
the difficulty, and how it had been met. 

“ But our sight-seeing in the cities of J apan is not 
to be the complicated affair it has been in other 
countries. There are eighteen of us, making twenty- 
three in all with the five guides, and the five parties 
will not all go together, for that number of rick- 
shaws would make a rather long procession ; but 
each one will go over the same ground at different 
times. The plan is tentative ; and if you don’t like 
it, even after a single day, it may be changed,” said 
the commander; and his remarks were earnestly ap- 
plauded. 

“ I have a few words now to say about Yokohama 
before you go out to see the place. Like some other 
of the treaty ports, this place really consists of two 
towns, the foreign and the native. The part where 


60 


PACIFIC SHORES 


we are now is sometimes called the Settlement, and 
it is the port of Tokyo. It was nothing but a little 
fishing-village when Commodore Perry anchored in 
the bay in 1854, off Uraga, perhaps eighteen miles 
nearer the ocean. Kanagawa was first selected as 
the treaty port, a thriving town a few miles north 
of Yokohama. But the government, realizing from 
an actual occurrence that a great deal of friction ex- 
isted between the Daimyos, or Japanese nobles, going 
to and from the capital on the Tokaido, the great 
national road, with armed retainers and foreigners, 
favored the taking of the town as it is now. 

“ There are several canals leading into and across 
the Settlement used by lighters and other small craft 
for conveying merchandise to the several parts of the 
town. If you pass out at the rear entrance of the 
hotel, you will come to Water Street ; and if you 
follow this avenue, you will come to one of these 
canals. Over it is the Yato Bashi, or bridge. Now, 
if the rickshaws are ready, you may take your first 
excursion.” 

The members of the several parties united, and 
called their guides. 


THE FIRST DAY IN YOKOHAMA 


61 


CHAPTER YII 

THE FIRST DAY IN YOKOHAMA 

All the members of the parties wished to go to 
their rooms before they left the hotel. Captain 
Ringgold had given Shimidzu the paper on which 
he had written out the programme ; and the chief 
guide had gone to the garden in the rear of the ho- 
tel, where he arranged the rickshaws in readiness 
for the company. The two “ Cupids ” were the only 
stout men of the tourists ; and two double vehicles 
had been provided for them, each with two men to 
draw it. They were in Matsu’s division. Each 
guide was placed in charge of the rickshaws the 
members of his party were to use. 

Ho one had expressed any dissatisfaction with the 
division of the members into parties, not even Felix 
McGavonty; but probably he was the only one who 
was not wholly pleased with the arrangement. 
Though he had the highest respect and regard for 
Mrs. Blossom, the nurse and guide of his tender 
years, she was so demonstrative that she was some- 
times a bore to him. But he had decided to make 
the best of the situation ; and he was thankful that 
the rickshaws would not be wide enough for two per- 
sons, so that he could not be placed alongside her. 


62 


PACIFIC SHORES 


At their own request the “ Big Four ” had been 
assigned to adjoining rooms ; but they were on the 
second floor of the hotel, with a connecting door, 
and doors leading out on the veranda commanding 
a view of the bay. They had nothing to do in their 
rooms, and w r ere soon ready to repair to the garden. 

“ I suppose you are satisfied with the comman- 
der’s arrangement for the trips about town, Flix,” 
said Louis Belgrave as they were leaving the room ; 
for he feared that the Milesian would not like to be 
in the same division with Mrs. Blossom. 

“ I shall make the best of it ; but I shall not be 
in the same boat with her, and she will not have a 
very good chance to hug me.” 

“But, Flix, she is one of the best women in the 
world, and you ought not to dislike her,” protested 
Louis. 

“I don’t dislike her any more than you do, my 
darling ; but I don’t like to be hugged and slobbered 
over just as though she were my mother. I am 
sorry the captain put me in the same party with her, 
but I shall make the best of it.” 

“ I will speak to my mother, and ask her to make 
her more reasonable about this matter,” added Louis, 
as they passed out of the hotel into the garden, in 
which there were trees, flowers, and driveways for 
vehicles to come up to the steps of the hotel. 

“ I see you are all ready, Mr. Machida,” said Louis, 
joining the guide of No. 4, as his division was desig- 
nated on the captain’s schedule. 


THE FIRST DAY IN YOKOHAMA 


63 


“ All ready, Mr. Belgrave.” 

“ By the way, what shall I. call you ? If you are 
a Japanese lord, I do not wish to omit your title.” 

“ I am not a lord, or anything of the sort ; and 
you may call me by my name without any title at 
all, simply Machida, as my people travelling with 
me usually call me after we get acquainted — ch as 
in chance, and not like Jc” 

“ Arigato .” (Thank you.) 

“ You speak Japanese ! ” exclaimed the guide. 

" I have picked up a few words only. But here 
come our people,” added Louis, as he saw Miss 
Blanche at the door of the hotel, and hastened to 
meet her. 

“ I hope you are very well this morning, Miss 
Blanche,” said Louis, as he raised his cap; and he 
thought she had never looked more beautiful since 
he had first seen her. 

Mrs. Blossom had come down with her; and she 
fixed her gaze upon Felix, who had just raised his 
cap to Blanche. 

“ I am so glad, my dear Felix, that I am to go 
in the same party with you,” said the worthy lady. 

“ But only one person can sit in these rickshaws, 
grandmarm,” replied the Milesian. “ You heard 
the captain say so in the reception-room.” 

“ Don’t you call me grandmarm, Felix ! ” exclaimed 
the worthy woman, who was not yet forty, and did 
not like to be called by such an ancient name by a 
young man of eighteen. 


64 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ I made a trade with you, grandmarm, not to call 
you so when you ceased to make a baby of me.” 

“ I haven’t made a baby of you to-day, Felix.” 

“ You spoke to me as you would to a baby just 
now when you came down.” 

“ I won’t do it again.” 

“ All right then, Mrs. Blossom. Louis is wait- 
ing for us.” 

Machida had arranged his five rickshaws in the 
form of a pentagon, the single one in the rear, the 
other four in couples. The other guides had placed 
them according to their own fancy. 

“Do you wish me to go in front or behind you, 
Mr. Belgrave ? ” asked Machida, who had already 
seated Louis and Miss Blanche in their vehicles. 

“In front of us, of course, in order to lead the 
way,” replied Louis. “ Suppose I want to go slowly, 
what should I say to the man who is the team, the 
otoko, for I know but a few words of their lingo ? ” 

“ Osoi means slow ; or, if you like, you may say, 
‘ Michi-michi machi wo keributsu sum kara soro-soro 
yatte yoroshiij ” replied Machida, with a roguish 
smile. 

“No, I thank you; osoi will answer my purpose. 
That long sentence would choke me to death,” 
added Louis, shrugging his shoulders like a French- 
man. 

“It means, ‘You may go slow, for I want to see 
the streets on the way.’ ” 

“ That is what I should like to say, but I couldn’t 



AM AFKAID THIS GO-CAKT WILL TIP OYEIi BACKW AKD ! ” 

Page 65 


“I 






THE FIRST DAY IN YOKOHAMA 


65 


do it. Now, is it .understood about the whistles, for 
each of us has one ? ” 

“ Perfectly. If you wish for information, you blow 
your musical instrument,” replied Machida, as he and 
Felix assisted Mrs. Blossom to her seat in the rick- 
shaw. 

“ My sakes ! ” exclaimed the good lady when she 
came to her bearings in the vehicle. “ I haven’t been 
in a baby-carriage before for five and thirty years. 
But won’t the thing tip up and spill me out back- 
wards ? ” 

“ No, it won’t. Now be aisy wid ye’s, and sit 
loike a Christian in the choorch,” said Felix, relaps- 
ing into his mother’s vernacular — for it was not his 
own, as he was born in America. 

Miss Blanche was laughing with all her might, as 
she always did when Felix used his Kilkenny lingo, 
if it was that, for he varied his brogue according to 
his own fancy. 

“ I am afraid this go-cart will tip over backwards,” 
persisted Mrs. Blossom. 

“ But don’t you see it can’t go over backwards 
without taking the otolco over with it?” interposed 
Louis, as much amused as Blanche. 

“ I don’t see any toko,” protested Mrs. Blossom. 

“ The two-legged horse in front of you,” Louis ex- 
plained, for by this time the rickshaw man had taken 
his place in the shafts. 

“ Then he’s the man with the umbrella on his 
head,” said the lady. 


66 


PACIFIC SHORES 


His hat was not less than two feet and a half in 
diameter at the brim, and was shaped like a flat- 
tened hemisphere ; but most of the men wore no cov- 
ering on the head. Their wardrobe was certainly very 
deficient in quantity as well as in quality. A couple 
of them wore short trousers, like small boys at home, 
though they were abbreviated in length so that they 
hardly came within six inches of the knees. They 
wore nothing above the hips, and were barefoot. 
But the commander had spoken to the chief guide 
about this matter, and those that wore nothing but a 
narrow breech-clout had not been employed. Though 
the Japanese, as a rule, are rather small in stature, 
the six men engaged were good-sized men, and their 
occupation had developed their strength. 

“Tell your men to keep these two rickshaws side 
by side, Machida,” said Louis in a low tone. 

“ And the others ? ” asked the guide with a smile. 

“ J ust as the passengers desire,” replied Louis, un- 
willing to be responsible for keeping Felix too near 
Mrs. Blossom. 

Louis and Blanche observed the seating of the rest 
of the party. Dr. Hawkes made a great deal of fun 
of his double vehicle, but declared that he could 
sit very comfortably in it, and should do so till the 
thill-horse kicked up and let him go over backwards. 
Uncle Moses was just as well satisfied. Each of the 
double rickshaws was provided with two horses — 
for as the men did duty as horses we may as well 
call them so. 


THE FIRST DAY IN YOKOHAMA 


67 


“ Each guide is provided with a written statement 
of the part of the city through which he is to go. 
Some of the streets are crowded in the native city, 
and we should often be in a snarl if we all went 
together,” said the commander. “You can start as 
soon as you are ready.” 

“ Go ahead, Machida,” added Louis. 

The guide, having instructed his men in regard to 
their positions and the whistles, led the way out of 
the garden into the street. They had hardly turned 
the corner before Mrs. Blossom blew her musical in- 
strument. 

“ What’s the matter now ? ” demanded Felix, as 
all the men motors stopped, and Machida hastened 
back on foot. 

“ I want to know what street this is,” replied the 
lady. 

“ Have you stopped the procession for that ? ” 
asked Felix indignantly. 

“ Isn’t that what the whistles are for ? ” asked 
Mrs. Blossom, as innocently as though she had done 
only what was required of her. 

“ This is Midzu Street,” replied Machida, with his 
roguish smile, for he had given the name of the street 
in Japanese. 

“ I thought it was Water Street,” said Felix. 

“ But I gave it in the native lingo.” 

“ Then, you have been fooling me ! ” exclaimed the 
good woman. 

“ It will be useless for you to stop the procession, 


68 


PACIFIC SHORES 


madam, to ask the name of the streets ; for in the 
Settlement most of them have no names, and in the 
native quarter they are all Japanese, as Ota Machi 
Dori, Sumyoshi Cho,” Machida explained. “ As you 
have learned by this time, the town is numbered, and 
not the streets as in New York. The Bund is the 
street on the bay, this is Water, and the next is Main 
Street ; and those are all the names you will find on 
the map in the little book they give at the office of 
the hotel ; all the rest of them are in Japanese.” 

“ All right, Machida,” said Louis. “ Go ahead.” 

“ You had better not blow your whistle again, Mrs. 
Blossom,” added Felix. “Tell me what you want, 
and if I can’t answer your question, I will blow my 
whistle.” 

“ Isn’t there as much music in my whistle as in 
yours, you consayted fellow ? But I thought Captain 
Binggold wanted us to blow the whistles when we 
had a question to ask.” 

“ He didn’t tell you to stop our whole section to 
ask a foolish question,” replied Felix rather sharply. 

“ I like to know where I am, and you needn’t scold 
at me.” 

“ I am not scolding at you, but there is reason in * 
all things. When you get over into Hunky Dory, 
will it do you any good to know the name of the 
street ? ” 

The good lady did not care to say any more, and 
perhaps she realized that she was making four other 
persons wait for a matter of no consequence what- 


THE FIRST DAY IN YOKOHAMA 


69 


ever. The pentagon of rickshaws now went along at 
good speed, for the motor-men make five or six miles 
an hour, They are more justly entitled to the name 
of motor-men than those who manage the power of 
the electric street-cars in the United States, for they 
generate the power as well as regulate it. The party 
proceeded along Water Street till they came to a 
bridge over one of the canals, which extended at 
right angles with the shore of the bay. At this 
point a whistle sounded. The procession halted, and 
Machida placed himself within speaking distance of 
the members of the party. 

“The lady next to me would like to know some- 
thing about the region on the other side of this 
canal,” said Louis. “ Are you going over there ? ” 

“You see the hill, with a range of them to the 
west of it. .That elevation is called the Bluff. On 
and near it are the most elegant and costly residences 
in Yokohama, and of course they are occupied by the 
wealthiest people in the place. In front, or north of 
it, is the Bluff Garden, which we shall visit and de- 
scribe another day. The large and handsome build- 
ing before you is the French Consulate, as you can 
see from the sign, if you read French. The building 
over to the left — and he pointed it out with his cane 
— is the United States Naval Hospital, which con- 
tains a tomb-mound to the ancient emperors of Japan, 
of which there are many in this country, and there 
were three of them on the Bluff, but two of them 
have been levelled. Near it are a cemetery and the 


70 


PACIFIC SHORES 


cremation ground; but you will see them in due 
time. 

“ This bridge is called the Yato Bashi, the last 
word meaning bridge. Christ Church is at the cor- 
ner of the second street on your right, and near it is 
the Oriental Hotel.” 

“ Is that hotel for natives ? ” asked Louis. 

“ No, sir ; for foreigners. But you will find plenty 
of hotels for Japanese in the native city if you wish 
to put up at one for a few days,” chuckled Machida. 

“No, thank you; not as long as there are three 
good hotels for foreigners, as I am told, in the 
city.” 

“ Of course the Grand Hotel is the best one ; but 
the Club they say is good, and is cheaper, as the 
Oriental is. I can tell you the names of all the 
bridges and streets, if you wish to know them ; for 
we will cross the canal, and follow the Moto Machi 
as far as the Kaga Cho.” 

The rickshaws crossed the bridge, and continued 
on the way by coal-yards and storehouses till they 
came to the Nishi Bashi, as the guide announced 
it. 

“ Spare us, Mr. Machida, and don’t give us any 
more proper names ! ” Miss Blanche cried out. 

“Not another one, Miss Woolridge!” protested 
the guide. 

The bridge was crossed and the street followed, 
till the guide halted the procession in front of a 
church. 


THE FIRST DAY IN YOKOHAMA 


71 


“This is the Methodist Church, and I was told 
that you were interested in it.” 

“Have they a Methodist Church away off in this 
heathen country ? ” asked Mrs. Blossom ; but no one 
answered her, and the rickshaws proceeded. 

“Now we are in the native town, and you will see 
a great deal to interest you,” said the guide. 

It was regularly laid out ; but the buildings were 
all of wood, and very queer-looking to the Americans. 


72 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAFTEB VIII 

A SHORT WALK IN HONCHO-DORI 

“ And what is the native town, Felix dear ? ” 
asked Mrs. Blossom, after Machida had made his 
announcement, having himself blown the whistle 
which caused all the motor-men to stop. 

“Sure, it’s the town where all the natives live, 
grandmarm, and not the one where the foreigners, 
like you and me, reside,” replied the Milesian ; and 
both of them spoke loud enough to be heard by all 
the party. 

“ Do you mean to call me a foreigner, Felix ? ” 
demanded the good lady. 

“No, grandmarm; you are a Jap.” 

“No, I’m not; I’m an American woman!” she 
protested. 

“ Well, that is a foreigner over here.” 

“But you are calling me grandmarm again, Felix 
dear.” 

“ And you are d earing me again, making a baby of 
me, grandmarm.” 

“ I will try not to do so.” 

“ This street is Satsuma Clio,” interposed the guide, 
though the members were amused at the colloquy 
between the good woman and her protege, as she 


A SHORT WALK IN HONCHO-DORI 73 

insisted upon making him, though he resented the 
relation. 

“ What does Cho mean ? ” asked Miss Blanche. 

“ A street ; and dori means the same ; so does 
machi .” 

“All right, Machida; but we do not care to learn 
the Japanese language/’ said Louis. 

“ There are a few common words you had better 
know, and I have no idea of giving you anything 
more,” replied the guide, blowing his whistle for the 
men to start, an addition he had himself made to 
the plan of the commander. 

The procession proceeded down the cross street at 
right angles with the shore of the Bay of Tokyo, 
most of the longer avenues crossing it in both divis- 
ions of the town. 

“ But I should like to hear the names of the prin- 
cipal streets, for papa bought Murray’s Hand-Book 
last night, and I have been looking it over,” said 
Blanche ; for the two rickshaws kept near enough 
together generally for the occupants to converse. 

“ I thought you did not like to hear them, and 
that is the reason I begged the guide to have mercy 
on us,” replied Louis. 

“ I don’t want to hear the names of all the bridges, 
and things we don’t care about.” 

“ Very well, Miss Blanche ; I will tell the guide 
what you desire as soon as I get a chance to speak to 
him,” added Louis as the rickshaws proceeded. 

The party had already begun to see a great change 


74 


PACIFIC SHORES 


in the appearance of the buildings j but presently the 
whistle, blown by Machida, stopped the vehicles. 

“ I suppose I am not to tell you the name of this 
street,- since you do not wish to know it,” said the 
guide, looking very good-natured. “ I can hold my 
tongue in English or Japanese, as my party may de- 
sire. I have lived some months in New York, where 
I learned to be silent in English, and I knew how 
before in Japanese ; and I am ready to do just as my 
honorable party wish me to do.” 

“ Thank you, my honorable friend,” answered Louis, 
who had read all of Mr. Edward Greey’s interesting 
and valuable books about Japan, and understood the 
excessive use the natives make of the word “ honor- 
able.” “I was wrong when I asked you to refrain 
from giving us the names of the streets and bridges, 
for I find that Miss Woolridge wishes to know some 
of them. Now, if you will please to give us the 
names of the principal streets and most important 
bridges, as well as of public buildings, we shall be 
greatly obliged to you ; and you will use your own 
judgment, which I find is excellent, as you began to 
do when we first came out.” 

“ I will endeavor to suit the honorable owner of 
the Guardian-Mother,” replied Machida with a pro- 
found obeisance. 

“But you may forget that you have kissed the 
blarney stone, as I see that you have.” 

It is the custom among the better class of Japanese 
to use this deferential term in speaking to or of a 


A SHORT WALK IK HONCHO-DORI 


75 


person, as, “ How is your honorable father this 
morning ? ” To an American its use seems to be 
somewhat overdone, though one would not often hear 
it now in the ordinary intercourse with those who 
speak English. 

“ The street we have just turned into is Honcho- 
dori,” continued the guide. 

“ That is almost hunky-dory,” said Felix. “ I 
have heard of it, and I shall call it hunky-dory.” 

“ I think that slang means ‘ all right/ ‘ first class/ 
in America ; and the name I gave you is something of 
the same signification. It is one of the most impor- 
tant of the streets of the native town, where you will 
find the most desirable stores, artists, and silk-stores, 
though the Benten-dori, the second from this one, is 
of about the same grade. You see that this one is 
lined with shops, and crowded with people ; and I 
hardly think we shall be able to keep two rickshaws 
abreast of each other all the time. If you would 
allow me to suggest it, I think you would be able to 
see more, and see it better, if you should get out and 
walk when we have gone a little farther, for the 
street will be more crowded than it is here.” 

“ That is an excellent idea, and for one I am in 
favor of it,” added Louis. “ What do you say, Miss 
Blanche ? ” 

“ I should like to do so, if it isn’t too muddy ; for 
they do not have any sidewalks here,” replied the 
fair maiden. “ But I have on my thick boots, and I 
will try it for a while.” 


76 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ You had better get a pair of ashida, or clogs. 
You would soon get used to them ; and then you could 
walk very well on them, and not muddy even the soles 
of your boots/’ said Machida. 

“ You may buy me a pair, Mr. Machida, when you 
see any/’ replied Blanche. 

The guide sounded his whistle again, and the rick- 
shaws proceeded. The street became more and more 
crowded as they advanced ; but the tourists found 
enough to keep their eyes busy all the time, and if 
they had had a dozen pairs more, they could hardly 
have taken in all there was to be seen. Both sides of 
the way were packed with shops, nearly all of them 
small, suggesting that rents were an institution in 
the Orient as well as in more civilized nations. The 
place reminded the travellers of the bazaars of 
Constantinople, Algiers, and other Mohammedan 
countries they had visited, though the stores were 
generally larger than the stalls in the bazaars. 

Nearly all of them were open in front, with the 
goods displayed where the show-window might have 
been, and encroaching somewhat upon the limits of 
the street. There were provision stores with all 
sorts of eatables displayed, many of which were utter 
strangers to the Americans. As they came to what 
appeared to be a shoe-store, the whistle of the guide 
sounded, and all the party were ready to get out. 

“ Good gracious ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Blossom, hold- 
ing on at the sides of the rickshaw with all her 
might. 


A SHORT WALK IN HONCHO-DORI 


77 


“ What’s the matter now ? ” demanded Felix, rush- 
ing to her. 

“ This man stopped so short that he nearly pitched 
me over his head,” replied the good woman. 

“ Are you hurt, madam ? ” asked the guide. 

“ No ; but I wonder my head was not split open, 
he stopped so short.” 

“ I will speak to the men about that,” added 
Machida. 

There is no dasher in front of the rickshaw, and 
when the motor-man stops short, and then drops the 
shafts upon the ground, the passenger must look out 
for himself, as he learns to do after a little expe- 
rience. The writer, having passed out of his juvenile 
years, bears on his knees a couple of scars of wounds 
received from alighting too hastily from a rickshaw ; 
but he soon learned the tricks of the machine, and 
did not suffer a second time. 

Louis assisted Miss Blanche to alight in front of 
the shoe-store, and Felix rendered the same service 
to Mrs. Blossom. Fortunately there was a dry place 
in front of the shop, though the street was generally 
covered with mud. Louis conducted his fair charge, 
as he regarded her, to the front of the shop, where 
the goods were displayed. In the interior was a 
slightly raised floor above the foundation of the 
building, and around it were pyramids of boxes and 
shelves, loaded with the various kinds of native 
shoes ; but there were none such as the visitors had 
ever seen before, except on the feet of the people in 


78 


PACIFIC SHORES 


the streets, though there were plenty of places in 
the Settlement where foot-gear for foreigners could 
be purchased. 

Inside of the shop a man and a woman were 
seated on the floor, for they never use chairs, but 
sit on their feet. This is the custom of all the 
people, even the ladies of the highest class ; and 
when they take tea together they all sit on the 
floor. To a European or American this is a very 
uncomfortable position, and in it one tires very much 
in a short time. The Japanese are brought up to 
sit in that manner from their earliest childhood ; and, 
being accustomed to it, they are more comfortable 
than they would be in a stuffed chair. 

“ Bozo o-agari kudasai ,” said the woman inside, 
still keeping her seat. 

“ Nai” replied Machida; and continued in his 
own language, “ we will look at the clogs where 
we are.” 

“ What did she say to you, Mr. Machida ? ” in- 
quired Blanche, who liked to hear the native lan- 
guage spoken. 

“ ‘ Please walk in/ was what she said. When visi- 
tors go into houses, or even shops here, it is the 
custom to take off their shoes ; but if you wear clogs, 
it is sufficient to remove them to go into shops,” 
replied the guide, who was disposed to inform his 
party incidentally in regard to some of the customs 
of his country. “Now we will look at some of the 
clogs ; and by the way, I am inclined to recommend 


A SHORT WALK IN HONCHO-DORI 


79 


all of you to purchase them, for wearing them will 
sometimes save you the trouble of removing your 
shoes, to say nothing of lifting you out of the mud, 
of which you will find a great deal in this town ; 
and so you will in Tokyo, Nikko, Osaka, and other 
places you will visit. They are very cheap, and you 
need not wear them in the rickshaws. You can slip 
them on and off in the twinkling of an eye.” 

The woman rose briskly from her doubled-up posi- 
tion at the prospect for a trade, and came forward 
to a board extended part of the way across the 
width of the shop, on which all the varieties of 
ashida , or high clogs, were on exhibition. Mrs. 
Blossom wanted a pair if it was only as a curiosity, 
and Felix overhauled them for her, while Louis 
selected a pair for himself. 

“ For this young lady,” said the guide in his 
vernacular. 

Blanche laughed heartily as she took the clogs, for 
they were almost big enough for any dime-museum 
giantess. The saleswoman asked her to come in, 
and let her see one of the feet to be fitted. Machida 
translated the request, and the shopkeeper said she 
might come in without taking off her boots. She 
complied with the request, and the woman laughed 
when she saw what a delicate little foot she had. 
She produced a pair then which just suited her; and 
Louis paid for them, and for a pair he had selected 
for himself. Mrs. Blossom was fitted and so was 
Felix, and the Milesian paid the bill'. 


80 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ Now you had better put them on and try them 
a little,” suggested the guide. 

The shopwoman had a pair lying next to the 
raised floor; and when she saw that the purchaser 
was a little awkward about putting them on, she 
slipped her feet into them as quick as a flash, and 
then laughed merrily as she raised her robe so as to 
display them. Blanche was a good scholar ; and 
imitating her exemplar, she slipped her little feet 
under the straps, and the feat was accomplished, to 
the great delight of the beautiful maiden. Felix 
was gallant enough to assist Mrs. Blossom to don 
what she called the outlandish shoes ; and she de- 
clared she never could keep them on her feet, and if 
she could, she could never wear them, for the awful 
clippity-clip they made would drive her crazy. 

“You will do very well with them, aunty, and 
they will do very well with you,” added Felix, who 
always did all he could to comfort her. “You will 
find them very handy when you get back to Van 
Blonk Park, for they will be less trouble than rub- 
bers when you want to cross the street to Mrs. Hop- 
kins’s. Now try them, aunty.” 

“ Aunty ! You have not called me that before for 
a year; but I like aunty better than grandmarm,” 
said she, as Felix assisted her to walk a short dis- 
tance. 

The boys put their clogs on, and they were quite 
as awkward as the ladies. They were all to walk now 
for a while, and they started up the street. The na- 


A SHORT WALK IN HONCHO-DORI 


81 


tives did not stare at them as they do in some coun- 
tries ; but they were not less curious, and used some 
art in concealing the scrutiny bestowed upon the 
strangers. They soon “ got the hang ” of the clogs, 
and all of them walked very well. They saw a con- 
siderable number of females in the street, and all of 
them wore the ashida. They were all young or of 
middle age, and some of them were quite pretty, 
Blanche said ; and of course Louis had to admit the 
correctness of her judgment in such a matter. 

On their backs most of the females carried a baby 
of from two months to two years old. They seemed 
to have some contrivance under the robe which made 
the carrying of them an easy thing. Hardly an old 
woman was seen, and some of those bearing babies on 
their backs appeared to be not more than twelve or 
fourteen years old. The girls all had black hair ; and 
as a rule it was very tastefully arranged — on the 
authority of Miss Blanche. They were all dressed 
alike, wearing two robes, the outer one shorter than 
the other, with one side folded over the other. 

“ Good gracious!” exclaimed Mrs. Blossom; “do 
these young things all have babies ? ” 

“ Not at all, madam,” interposed Machida, who 
happened to be within hearing of her. “ Not one 
half of them are the mothers of the babies. Some of 
them are nurses, some are the babies’ sisters, and 
some are the friends of the family, I suppose ; for I 
cannot tell the status of all of them. But here is a 
silk-store, and I think you had better go in and see 


82 


PACIFIC SHORES 


the place and the goods ; but you need not buy any- 
thing if not so disposed.” 

The party agreed to it, and were glad to do as sug- 
gested. 


A BUSY STREET OF THE NATIVE TOWN 83 


CHAPTER IX 

A BUSY STREET OF THE NATIVE TOWN 

A siLK-shop was not very different from any other 
shop, and the party were politely invited to enter. 
Machida took the precaution to say that the ladies 
were not yet ready to purchase, but belonged to a 
company in which there were six ladies, who would 
visit the shop in their own time, especially as it was 
mentioned in Murray. Several men were in attend- 
ance, and if there were any saleswomen they did 
not appear. The tourists had all removed their 
clogs before stepping upon the elevated floor, and 
passed up to a kind of counter in the middle of 
the room. Various kinds of silks were shown to the 
visitors, and they examined them with interest. 

The salesmen continued to be polite, even when 
there were no signs of any trade ; and they did not 
importune the strangers to buy. The visit was very 
brief ; for there was nothing particular to be seen, 
and no national peculiarity to be illustrated. The 
Americans thought they could see and learn more in 
the street, and they politely withdrew. Mr. Shobei, 
the proprietor of the store, spoke to Machida, and 
handed him some cards and circulars. Louis won- 
dered whether the guides were in league with the 


84 


PACIFIC SHORES 


shopkeepers, as some of them are in Paris and other 
large cities on the continent of Europe, to bring 
customers to the store, receiving a percentage on the 
purchases for their services. 

“Machida, do you get a commission on the goods 
your visitors purchase at the shops to which you 
take them ? ” asked Louis as soon as they were in 
the street. 

“Not a sen replied the guide with some indig- 
nation in his manner. 

“What’s a sen?” inquired Mrs. Blossom, who 
heard the answer. 

“When we get back to the Grand Hotel, Mr. 
Belgrave, I shall prove to you that I do not take 
commissions from dealers for what my people buy,” 
added Machida. “ Haven’t you learned our currency 
yet, madam ? ” he added, turning to Mrs. Blossom. 

“ I have not ; and I have no more idea what a sen 
is than I have of the Buddhist religion,” replied the 
lady. 

“ I thought our money had been explained to you ; 
for Captain Binggold has been here before, and he 
knows all about it,” said Machida. “The unit of 
our money is the yen ; and as you have been told 
before, this word has no plural, and it is one yen or 
1,000 yen, and one of them contains 100 sen, or cents, 
though the former is the word generally used. The 
value of a yen in your money is variable, and de- 
pends upon the price of silver, which is quoted at 
a different rate about every day. 


A BUSY STREET OF THE NATIVE TOWN 85 

“ Perhaps you do not wish to figure up the value 
of a yen very closely ; but last week in Tokyo a 
gentleman drew twenty sovereigns, or nearly a hun- 
dred dollars in your currency, and I calculated with 
him the American value of our unit. We made it 
fifty-five cents ; but this amount does not agree with 
what you will find in some of the books, though in 
Murray’s Handbook the authors do not make any 
comparisons, which was wise while the values are 
so very fluctuating. 

“One yen contains 100 sen, as I said; and there- 
fore our sen is worth .55 of your cent. When you 
pay ten sen for a ride in a rickshaw, the amount 
dispensed is really five cents and a half. One sen is 
ten rin; and to you this will be coming down to a 
very fine point, for its value is i<r of one of your 
cents, or less than one-half of a cent. Probably you 
will not have occasion to make much use of this 
piece.” 

“ But what are the coins and bills that we use ? ” 
asked Louis. “ When I bought my sandals I gave 
the woman one yen, and . she returned to me in 
change a lot of coins, which are all Japanese to me, 
and I hardly looked at them.” 

“ The gold coins, which are a part of our currency, 
you will probably never see in your dealings at 
stores and hotels,” continued the guide. “ Five silver 
pieces are more or less in use, — the yen, which is not 
very common, the 50, 20, 10, and 5 sen pieces, which 
are in common use. There are little nickel coins of 


86 


PACIFIC SHORES 


5 sen , worth about half of your nickel. We also 
have, and for change, bills of 50 and 20 sen. The 
larger paper money most in use are of the denomi- 
nation of 1, 5, and 10 yen. I think I have told 
you all you need to know in regard to our money, 
and all you have to do now is to get a little used 
to it.” 

All this was said while the party were standing 
by the side of the rickshaws in the street, and the 
natives had a good chance to observe them. Honcho- 
dori had begun to be somewhat crowded ; and the 
tourists found a great deal to do in looking at the 
natives on foot, and the foreigners in rickshaws. 
The latter were not all English or Americans, or 
even Erenchmen and Spaniards ; for there was a 
sprinkling of many nations represented. Some of 
the wealthy Japanese were out on business or pleas- 
ure, but there was nothing peculiar in them which 
all the party had not seen before. 

“Twig that big Chinaman,” said Eelix, as a fat 
Celestial rode by, smoking his cigarette, and looking 
as magnificent as though he had been the right hand 
man of the Mikado. 

“No doubt he is some rich merchant, for the 
Chinese are very shrewd and skilful in commerce,” 
said Machida. 

“We found that out in Singapore, Colombo, and 
Batavia, as well as in many other large cities,” added 
Louis. “ If there is any chance for trade, they seem 
to be on hand to make a strike for it. Even in 


A BUSY STREET OF THE NATIVE TOWN 87 

Borneo they have obtained a foothold. Now, what 
is that gentleman on horseback ? ” 

“ That is a Persian, perhaps a Parsee. I don’t 
know ; but I think he is only a visitor, like your- 
selves,” answered the guide. 

“ Don’t you remember the dress of that pirate in 
the Indian Ocean who attacked the commander, and 
was handed over to the English man-of-war, Mr. 
Belgrave ? This gentleman’s clothing is about the 
same,” said Blanche. 

“ I remember him very well.” 

“ Now, ladies and gentlemen, shall we ride or 
walk ? ” asked Machida. 

“ Those who wish to ride can do so, for the rick- 
shaws will keep near the party,” suggested Louis. 
“ Are you tired, Miss Blanche ? ” 

“Not a bit ; and I can manage these sandals very 
well now ; I prefer to walk for a while longer.” 

“ Will you ride or walk, aunty ? ” asked Felix. 

“ I will walk, at least till I get the hang of these 
clogs.” 

Machida led the way; and they proceeded along 
the street, with a procession of strange people on 
one side, and a vast variety of buildings, with shops 
and residences, on the other. In fact, there was so 
much to see that the visitors could not take in more 
than half of it. On the lower floor of the houses, 
though some of them were only of one story, it was 
uniformly shops, some of them among the best in 
the city. Some of the business offices, or stores, were 


88 


PACIFIC SHORES 


on the second story. The structures were in some 
instances, but not in many, three stories high. In 
one place a four-story building was seen. As one may 
see in London or Paris, the guide indicated several 
buildings of two stories where the shopkeeper on the 
first had his residence on the second floor. 

“I should like to go into a house, and see how 
they live here,” said Mrs. Blossom. 

“ And that you shall do,” replied Machida. “ A 
friend of mine, who is under some obligations to me, 
lives in Asahi-Cho, not far from where we are now. 
He is what you would call one of the middle class, 
well off, not very rich, nor yet poor. When I had 
a party here, one of the ladies expressed the same 
desire as that of Mrs. Blossom; and I asked Mr. 
Tamamura for permission to take the party to his 
residence, and show them how the Japanese live. 
He gave me permission, and said he should consider 
the visit as doing honor to his home, and invited me 
to take any of my parties to his house whenever I 
wished. He is a photographer in Benten-dori, and 
we will call there as we pass through that street.” 

a We are very much obliged to you, Mr. Machida,” 
said Blanche. “This must be an opportunity that 
is not presented to all tourists in Yokohama.” 

“ That is quite true ; but I like to give my people 
all the information I can in relation to my country 
and its people.” 

“ Can all the guides speak English as well as you 
do, sir ? ” inquired the pretty maiden. 


A BUSY STREET OF THE NATIVE TOWN 89 

“ They all speak it well enough to perform their 
duties to the satisfaction of their employers; but 
none of them have had the advantage of some 
months’ residence in New York, as I have.” 

“You speak our language as well as though you 
had lived in New York all your lifetime,” replied 
Miss Blanche with one of her sweetest smiles. 

“Thank you, Miss Woolridge; you are very kind 
to say so. I have studied English a great deal, 
and practised it till I thought I was very nearly 
perfect for an ordinary man. I don’t live in this 
town, but in Tokyo, though I am as much at home 
here as there. My headquarters are at the Imperial 
Hotel, near which I live.” 

“ Some of these houses have balconies which re- 
mind us of some of the cities of India,” said Louis. 
“ You said just now, Machida, that your friend, to 
whose house you propose to take us, lived in some 

Clio. What does that word mean ? ” 

“ He lives in Asahi-Cho. The word has two 
meanings. In the sense in which I used it, it is a 
street. It is also a measure of distance, for which 

we have the ri and the cho, thirty-six of the latter 

making one of the former. In the hotel guide-book, 
of which I think you have one, Mr. Belgrave ” — 

“We all have it,” interposed Mrs. Blossom. 

“ In that book, the distances are mostly given in 
cho.” 

“ And we are not a whit the wiser for the cho,” 
added Louis. 


90 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ But you shall have the interpretation thereof ; 
and then you can tell how far off a place is in miles, 
though it will take a little figuring to accomplish it,” 
said Machida with the benignant look of a college 
professor. “ First, a ri is 2.44 statute miles. If 
you call it two and a half miles you will be near 
enough to it for all ordinary purposes.” 

“That makes it easy enough to remember,” said 
Louis. “ And I see that you have studied our arith- 
metic as well as our language.” 

“ I have done that in the winter when we have 
very few visitors. You have the ri now, which is 
more used in the country, where you have to deal 
with long distances, than in the city. A did is 358 
feet; that takes too much ciphering to be of much 
use to you. Fifteen did make a mile, or a did is 
.066 of a mile. It is not necessary to be very 
accurate in turning did into miles. Taking advan- 
tage of the form of this decimal, I made a rule which 
will give you the number of miles near enough for 
your use,” continued Machida, taking the little guide- 
book from his pocket. “ A certain factory is said 
to be thirty did from the Grand Hotel.” 

“ Thirty-fifteenths of a mile, or two miles,” said 
Louis as quick as a flash. 

“ Good, Mr. Belgrave ! ” exclaimed the guide. 
“ You beat me, and you don’t need my rule.” 

“ But let us know what it is, for it may be use- 
ful to us.” 

“ Take one-tenth of two-thirds of the number of 


A BUSY STREET OF THE NATIVE TOWN 91 


cho and it will give the miles, not precisely, but as 
closely as your method. Take 36 cho , two-thirds 
of it is 24, one-tenth of which is 2.4, within .04 of 
the correct answer.” 

“ One-tenth of two-thirds is two-thirtieth, or one- 
fifteenth, and I don’t think there is any need of 
your figures ; for divide the number of cho by fif- 
teen gives you the number of miles every time as 
nearly as your rule will give it,” Louis explained. 
“ But I should not have seen it if you had not 
exemplified the subject, and I thank you for your 
explanation.” 

“ You Americans are great on figures, and I won’t 
talk so much next time,” replied Machida, rather 
crestfallen. 

“ Don’t I hear music somewhere ? ” asked Mrs. 
Blossom, after the party had walked a short distance. 

“ All you Americans and English do not call it 
music, but that is what it is intended for,” replied 
Machida, as they halted in the street. “This is a 
tea-house, and I see they have a famous singer I 
have often heard in Tokyo.” 

“What’s a tea-house?” asked Mrs. Blossom. “Is 
it a wholesale house ? ” 

“ No ; it is a place where they drink tea, aunty,” 
answered Felix. “ You saw enough of them in 
Sliang-hai, Pekin, and Hong Kong.” 

“We will go in if you like,” suggested the guide. 

“ I should like to see the inside of the place,” 
returned Mrs. Blossom. 


92 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ Very well ; we will go in,” said Machida, as he 
led the way. “This is a very respectable place, 
and some of the best people come here. Notice the 
two ladies who are coming in.” 

All eyes were turned to them, for they had not 
been in the way of seeing any native ladies. One 
of them was a woman nearly or quite forty years 
old, they judged, though she was still very good- 
looking. Both of them were elegantly dressed, 
though not in evening dress. They had the same 
kind of robes as the common people, but of more 
elegant material. They wore low-cut shoes, from 
which they had removed their clogs at the door. 

The other lady was apparently not more than 
seventeen years old ; and she was as graceful as a 
fawn, clothed in the same costume as the other, who 
might have been her mother. She was a beautiful 
young lady, and all the party looked at her with 
the most emphatic interest. Blanche declared that 
she was very pretty, and she should like to get 
acquainted with her if she spoke English ; but there 
was no way of bringing about an introduction. The 
apartment was large, and the means of reducing 
it to several smaller ones was apparent even to 
strangers. The visitors were all seated on the floor, 
which was covered with mats. For each person or 
party there was a tray, or stand, including a teapot 
and more or less cups. 

The waiters were gi.rls, some of them very pretty, 
and no little art was applied to their “ getting up.” 


A BUSY STREET OF THE NATIVE TOWN 98 

Through an opening in the partition, which was 
movable, Felix called the attention of his compan- 
ions to quite a pretty young woman, seated on the 
floor opposite a looking-glass, engaged in painting 
her lips with the brightest red. Her hair was elab- 
orately dressed ; and it was evident that she was 
preparing to assume her duties as a waitress, and 
possibly desired to make a conquest of some nice 
young fellow. 

Machida called for tea for the five, and they 
waited for it to be brought. 


94 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER X 

A CONCERT IN A TEA-HOUSE 

The tea was brought by the pretty girl, Felix 
said, whom he had seen putting the carmine on her 
lips ; and he did not think she was any handsomer 
for the paint on her labial appendages. The color 
was overdone, and he thought she would look better 
with her ruby lips colored as nature had done it.- 
The tea was in small cups, and very light-colored. 
It was Japan ; and it did not appear to be sufficiently 
“ drawn,” or brewed as some up-to-date people say in 
recent years. “ Aunty ” was the most accomplished 
tea-drinker of the Americans, and she suggested that 
they wait till it had steeped a little more. 

Perhaps she did so partly because the famous 
singer seemed to be about to warble for the benefit 
of the assembled company. She went to a low 
music-stand, consisting of an inclined board sup- 
ported on two sticks planted in a wooden block 
on the mat. Beside it was a hot-water apparatus, 
crowned with a teapot, with a single cup beside it. 
Behind the stand was a platform not more than 
six inches high, upon which the singer kneeled or 
squatted ; and with her long, flowing robes one could 
not see in what manner she disposed her limbs. In 


A CONCERT IN A TEA-HOUSE 95 

her hands she carried a kind of guitar, called a 
samisen in her own vernacular. 

The cantatrice was not handsome, though her lips 
had been treated to a liberal coating of carmine. 
She placed her instrument in the usual position of 
a guitar, and then thrummed its strings with an 
ivory implement used in Japan for that purpose. 
When she had played the air, she began to sing 
in a falsetto voice, screaming as though she was 
afraid some of her audience would not hear her. 

“ Isn’t it horrid ? ” whispered Blanche to Mrs. 
Blossom. 

“ It is, Miss Blanche ; our old cat at home could 
do a great deal better than that,” replied the good 
woman, pleased to have the beauty of the party 
notice her; though Blanche was never reserved or 
unsocial, and it was to her credit, as the daughter 
of a Fifth Avenue magnate, that she treated all, 
even the servants, kindly and politely. 

“ Do they call that noise singing, Mr. Machida ? ” 
chuckled Felix. 

“It isn’t any worse than Chinese music, such as 
we heard in Shang-hai and Pekin,” added Louis, 
laughing; and all of them were disposed to make 
very light over the melody. 

“ Different nations have different music as well 
as languages ; and you can see that the J apanese 
audience are pleased with the singing of the lady,” 
said the guide ; “ but we don’t insist that you should 
like it.” 


96 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“No, sir; I don’t tliink you are quite right this 
time, Machida, for the music of China and Japan is 
certainly decidedly peculiar. Our greatest singers 
— the prima donnas of the opera — are from Italy, 
France, and Germany. They speak a different lan- 
guage, but their singing is the same in kind as 
that of England and America.” 

“ But I like this better than the music of the 
prima donnas I heard in New York,” added Machida. 
“ There is no accounting for tastes ; and it depends 
a great deal upon how one is brought up, and where. 
Of course you could not understand a word of her 
song, while I comprehended every word of it, and 
that makes some difference.” 

“ What was she singing ? ” asked Blanche. 

“ Yagai sosho ” — 

“No; in English, if you please,” interposed the 
fair maiden. 

“When the frogs sing noisily in the fields,” the 
guide interpreted it. 

The famous singer presently took a rest, which her 
croaking seemed to render necessary, to the great 
relief of the Americans, and they turned their at- 
tention to the tea. They had been obliged to squat 
on the floor like the natives; for there was nothing 
in the shape of a chair or stool in the room, around 
a low table, on which the tea-set had been placed. 
Mrs. Blossom poured out the decoction, to which 
there was still very little color, though it had been 
brewing for over twenty minutes. A cup of it was 


A CONCERT IN A TEA-HOUSE 97 

handed to each person, and then “ aunty ” began to 
look about her very inquiringly. 

“ That girl has forgot to bring the sugar and milk/’ 
said she rather tartly, when she could not find what 
she sought. 

“ She has not forgotten it,” replied Machida, laugh- 
ing, in which he was joined by Louis and Felix, who 
had learned more of the customs of the natives than 
the good woman. 

“ Why didn’t she bring them, then, if she did not 
forget it ? ” she demanded. 

“ Our people do not use sugar and milk in their 
tea,” answered Machida. 

“ Don’t use them ? Bu^ I had sugar and milk 
in my tea at the hotel.” 

“ The Grand Hotel is more for foreigners than for 
our people, though those who are rich enough go 
there ; but they need not use sugar and milk if they 
don’t want them. We think they would spoil the 
tea.” 

“ What heathen ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Blossom. 

“ Our people look upon you as the heathen. I 
know of a good Buddhist lady in Tokyo who made 
every effort in her power to convert a Christian lady, 
who was living with her, and could speak Japanese, 
for her brother had married an American lady. 
Now, this Buddhist lady was just as certain that she 
was all right and the Christian lady was all wrong as 
any of your Methodist missionaries are in the oppo- 
site direction. I have heard the Japanese lady tell 


98 


PACIFfC SHORES 


the other what a comfort it would be to her if she 
only believed in Buddha and the other deities of our 
country.” 

“ Are you a Buddhist, Mr. Machida ? ” asked 
Louis. 

“I am not. I was brought up in the Shinto reli- 
gion, though I am not much of anything now,” re- 
plied the guide. “But I think we had better drink 
our tea, and move on.” 

“ Drink our tea ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Blossom, who 
had tasted it from her cup. “It is as flat as dish- 
water. There is not strength enough in it to excite 
a sick kitten.” 

“But the flavor of Japan is said to be the best,” 
added Machida. “ A gentleman who was staying at 
the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo made the same com- 
plaint of his tea ; but I suppose it was not made 
strong enough for him, as this is not for you. He 
called for China tea, and liked it much better. Now 
I think we had better ride for a time.” 

The party swallowed the tea, and did not believe 
it would make them nervous. Then with some diffi- 
culty they put themselves into a horizontal position. 
Machida called for the bill, and Louis paid it. At 
the same moment came a dish which was presented 
to each of the male members of the group. 

“ That is for a collection to be given to the sweet 
singer to whom you have listened,” the guide ex- 
plained. “ Our people are in the habit of giving 
something whether they like the music or not.” 


A CONCERT IN A TEA-HOUSE 


99 


Louis put five sen in front of each member, and 
they all went into the dish ; and the girl who carried 
it made a polite acknowledgment for the gift as 
each one put it in the plate. The party passed out 
of the tea-house, attentively observed by all the na- 
tives, though all avoided the appearance of staring at 
them. The rickshaws were called up, and all of 
them were seated again. 

“What are all those tea-chest signs on the other 
side of the street ? ” asked Felix. 

“ They are the advertisements of various shows, — • 
one of acrobats, and another of dancing ; but I think 
we had better not stop to see them now/’ replied 
the guide, as he took his place in his vehicle. 

The street was now too much crowded to permit 
the formation of the pentagon of rickshaws as before, 
and they started off in single file. The motor-men 
had to do a great deal of dodging to get along even 
in this order ; but they had been resting quite a long 
while, and they were in good condition. The street 
was not a very long one, though the members of the 
party found enough to interest them. As they came 
near the end of the street, Louis blew his whistle 
very decidedly, and the men drew the carriage up 
at the side of it. 

The objects which had excited the attention of 
the young millionaire were a couple of queer con- 
veyances such as he had not seen before, and he 
thought the party ought to know more about them. 
From one of them a lady was about to alight at a 


100 


PACIFIC SHORES 


shop on the opposite side of the way. The other 
had halted behind it, waiting for the first to move 
out of the way so that the lady inside could get 
out. Each of them was borne by two men. The 
first consisted of a long stick, the ends resting on 
the shoulders of the bearers. The stick was a 
board upon closer examination, rather thin, so that 
there was some spring to it; and upon it were laid 
the clogs of the passenger, who was handsomely 
dressed, and evidently belonged to the high caste. 
Erom this board a platform about three feet long 
was suspended, upon which was placed a thick mat 
or cushion, on which the lady reclined. The men, 
who wore a kind of tunic, like the outer one of 
the guide, while their legs were bare from their 
grass sandals above the knees, were evidently pri- 
vate servants. 

“What do you call that thing, which is a kind 
of palanquin ? ” asked Louis, when Machida had 
placed himself where all could hear him. 

“That is a kago ; and it is a private affair, which 
some rich people keep for their own use.” 

The men dropped the board, and then supported 
it with a couple of sticks which they carried in 
their hands ; and at this height the lady could easily 
alight, which she did without assistance from her 
servants. The bearers went ahead with the litter, 
as it might be called ; and the other palanquin, more 
like such as the party had seen in India, drew up 
before the shop. 


A CONCERT IN A TEA-HOUSE 101 

“ What do you call that one, Machida ? n Louis 
inquired. 

u That is a norimono ; and it looks like the body 
of a coach, as you see. This also is a private 
affair.” 

“ Norimono” repeated both Blanche and Mrs. Blos- 
som, for there was something euphonious in the 
sound of the word. 

It was really a palanquin, with a door in sight 
in the side next to the observers. Fore and aft 
along the top extended a stick hewn square, with 
a slight downward curve, under the ends of which 
the bearers had placed their sticks to support the 
weight of the carriage while they waited. As soon 
as the kago moved on, the men bore it to the front 
of the shop, which appeared to be a silk-store. One 
of the bearers opened the door, and the lady de- 
scended without help. She was an older person 
than the one who had come in the kago , and who 
was standing at the door, and might have been her 
mother. She was good-looking without being hand- 
some was the verdict of Blanche and Mrs. Blossom. 
The men were clothed and unclothed, like the others 
described, except that they wore long stockings, and 
very broad, flat-brimmed hats, while the others were 
bare-headed. 

The guide blew his whistle, and the procession 
went ahead again. Louis did not stop the rickshaws 
when he saw a blacksmith at work in an opening 
between two houses, but he and Felix looked at 


102 


PACIFIC SHORES 


him with interest. He was seated on the ground, 
with an anvil in front of him, with a young fellow, 
who was evidently his helpmate, at his side. The 
fire was also on the ground; and the assistant was 
heating an iron, while the smith was blowing the 
bellows, which was a kind of box, by the move- 
ments of his left foot, connected by cords with 
the box. He had but very few tools compared 
with the number seen in our shops. 

“If you stopped to examine it, you would find 
that he does very nice work,” said the guide, as 
he halted the rickshaws at the corner of the street. 
“ This is Basha-Mi-Cho ; and we shall turn into the 
second street, which is Benten-Dori, named after our 
goddess of the sea, and also of Luck, Eloquence, and 
Fertility. You might be interested in some stories 
of her when we have time to repeat them.” 

The whistles sounded, and the rickshaws went 
up the street. Presently they stopped at the sound 
of the whistle from the guide. The shop was covered 
with tea-chest signs, as Felix called them, though 
there was evidence enough outside of it to indicate 
to a foreigner that the business of the place was in 
photographs. The party alighted, and at the door 
removed their clogs. 

“ It is nearly lunch-time at the hotel, and I advise 
you to put on low-cut shoes when we come out this 
afternoon ; for removing the clogs is not quite enough 
when we enter a private residence, as we shall to-day,” 
said Machida, as they paused in front of the shop. 


A CONCERT IN A TEA-HOUSE 


103 


“This is the store of my friend Tamamura, whose 
house we shall visit after lunch. He is quite a 
noted artist, and takes as fine pictures as any one 
in Yokohama or Tokyo ; and he has as fine views 
of Japanese buildings and scenery as can be found. 
But I wish to say, and to have it particularly under- 
stood, that I don’t ask you to have your pictures 
taken, or to buy any views, even while I honestly 
believe you cannot do any better in any other place. 
Tamamura would pay no commission to me if I 
induced trade to him for a thousand yen.” 

The party thought he was honest and sincere, 
and they followed him into the shop. The proprie- 
tor spoke a little English, but very little. Machida 
introduced them all individually to Mr. Tamamura, 
who was very polite, though he was not subservient, 
as many of the natives were. 

“ Glad to see you,” said he to every one of them. 

“ I should like a family gawp of this party, includ- 
ing our honorable guide,” said Felix, in his facetious 
mood. 

“ I don’t understand that English,” replied the 
guide. . 

“ Because it is not English,” said Louis. “ He 
means a group of our party, including yourself, 
Machida.” 

“We shall call at your residence after lunch to- 
day,” said the guide in his own language. 

« I shall 'be glad,” replied Tamamura, bowing 
lower than before. 


104 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“My people are very desirous to see how the 
Japanese live,” added Machida, in both languages. 
“ Now, I think we will attend to the group, for I 
think we have time.” 

The guide explained to the artist what was 
wanted; and he conducted them to his operating- 
room, where he placed and posed them with exceed- 
ing care, and the picture was taken. The party 
looked over the pictures in the shop, and saw some 
which pleased them very much. 

“ We shall come again,” said Miss Blanche with 
her sweetest smile, for she was very much pleased 
with the artist. 

“ I shall be glad,” answered Tamamura, as another 
party entered the studio. 

The Americans returned to their rickshaws, and 
were driven to the Grand Hotel. 


THE INTERIOR OF A JAPANESE HOUSE 105 


CHAPTER XI 

THE INTERIOR OF A JAPANESE HOUSE 

Oto’s party, with Captain and Mrs. Sharp and 
Scott, arrived at the hotel about the same time as 
Machida’s. They had been along the Bund, and had 
explored the Settlement, and they were not greatly 
pleased with their excursion. Neither the com- 
mander of the Blanche nor his wife was much in- 
clined to sight-seeing ; and though they had done but 
little of it comparatively, the lady declared that she 
preferred to remain on board of the ship. Scott had 
not enjoyed his trip at all, and even said he had 
rather be on board of the Guardian-Mother; and he 
expressed himself freely to Louis. 

“ I suppose you passengers feel obliged to enjoy 
these rides whether you do or not,” said the third 
officer, laughing. “ It was a bore to me before I got 
back to the hotel.” 

“ But you have not got at Japanese life at all ; 
for you have been looking over the Bund and the 
Settlement, and there is nothing native about them,” 
replied Louis. “ We have seen a great deal of the 
city, and of the manners and customs of the people.” 

“ It seemed to me like riding through some large 
town in the State of New York,” continued Scott. 


106 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ But I am sure you will be instructed and amused 
when you go through the native town, Scott ; and 
I hope you will not get disgusted.’ 7 

“ I am not disgusted, and I may be as enthusiastic 
as any of you yet. The best time I have had was on 
the Borneo week ; and I should like to go back to 
that island, and do it over again. But I have an 
idea, Louis.” 

“ You always have ; but what is it, Scott ? ” 

“ I suppose you have looked over the map or the 
chart of the waters of Japan, Louis ? ” 

“ Of course I have, and studied the map ; I have 
not seen the chart, as you must have done,” re- 
plied Louis. 

“Then you have noticed the Inland Sea and the 
abundance of seas, bays, and channels on the coast.” 

“I have; and after we have visited Tokyo, and 
some of the places at the south of us, we shall sail 
in the ships through the Inland Sea, taking in Kobe, 
Osaka, Kyoto, and I don’t know what other places,” 
Louis explained. 

“ I don’t care much for the towns ; but I was 
thinking that if Captain Binggold will allow us to 
take the pacha’s steam-launch, with the same fit-out 
we had in Borneo, it would suit me better than run- 
ning to see those heathen temples, and the carica- 
tures they call art here,” said Scott. 

“ That is a capital idea of yours, Scott ; and I 
wonder we did not think of it before. But we can 
take in the sights at the same time. We can go 


THE INTERIOR OF A JAPANESE HOUSE 107 

down to Uraga, Enoshima, Kamakura, or near them, 
by water ; and we could do some hunting and fishing 
on the way.” 

“ You seem to know the names of all these places 
in Japan, Louis, as though you had been here be- 
fore,” added Scott. “The commander does not in- 
tend to go to every town and city in this country : 
but, as he said in India, we can take in a specimen of 
each nation we visit ; and that suits me better than 
visiting the whole of it. I shall be glad to see what 
there is to be seen, if we are not to gobble up the 
whole thing.” 

“ I like your plan, and I will speak to Captain 
Ringgold about it when I have a chance ; and I have 
nb doubt General Noury will allow us to use the 
Blanchita,” which was the name the young explorers 
had given to the launch in Borneo. 

“ We want about the same crew and fit-out we had 
before,” suggested Scott. 

“ And we can take the whole party from one port 
to another, as from Kobe to Osaka, from whence you 
can go to Lake Biwa, which is said to be a very 
beautiful sheet of water, from which a canal has 
been opened to the Gulf of Osaka ; and possibly we 
can get into the lake with the launch in this way ; 
I don’t know now, but I will study it up.” 

The other parties arrived from their trips at about 
the same time, and the lunch was ready. The dining- 
room of the Grand Hotel was large enough to seat 
three hundred persons, and was filled with small 


108 


PACIFIC SHORES 


round or oblong tables, though there were larger ones 
for parties of more than three or four. The com- 
mander sat at the head of one of the latter, with 
Louis and his mother on one side, and the general 
and the princess on the other. The young million- 
aire was so pleased with Scott’s plan that he broached 
it before the meal was finished. Both the captain 
and the general also seemed to like the idea, and 
readily assented to it. The pacha even left his 
place at the table to give Captain Sharp the order to 
put the launch into the water, and fill her bunkers 
with coal. 

As the company were getting up from the table, 
Captain Sharp came to the commander of the Guard- 
ian-Mother, and said he would go on board of his 
ship at once, and get the launch into the water. 

“ But I don’t wish you and Mrs. Sharp to lose the 
sights of Yokohama,” protested the captain. 

“No loss at all to us, for we have both got enough 
of it,” replied the captain of the Blanche. 

“ You have not yet seen anything of the native 
town,” added Captain Ringgold, glancing at his 
schedule of the various parties and their routes. 

“ I think my wife and I both are very domestic ; 
and the general has given us such a nice home on 
board of the ship that we like it better than trotting 
about these places. We will come ashore some day, 
and take a turn through the native town, though I 
have seen so many such places that I don’t care much 
about them.” 


# 


THE INTERIOR OF A JAPANESE HOUSE 109 

“ But that will break up Oto’s party, and leave 
Scott out in the cold.” 

“ I should like another guide with my party, and I 
will take Oto,” interposed the general. 

“And we will take Scott into our party,” added 
Louis. 

“ Very well ; I am satisfied if the others are,” said ' 
the commander, as he led the way from the dining- 
room. 

“ You are to go with our section now, Scott,” said 
Louis, as he came up with him on the way to the 
office. 

“I am glad of that; for I think Captain Sharp, 
though I like him and his wife very much, is utterly 
disgusted with sight-seeing. It was only a little of 
it that he would take when we were in India, and 
what we have seen to-day is tame compared with 
that. Have you finished the native town yet, 
Louis ? ” 

“No, though I think we have got about enough of 
it ; for unless you are going down very fine into the 
details, when you have seen a little you have seen 
the whole of it, for it is all very much alike.” 

Machida had taken his dinner, and the rickshaws 
were all ready for the afternoon. Louis told him 
that another person had been added to the party ; but 
he said he often had seven or eight, and five was an 
easy number to handle, and he went out to procure 
another vehicle. The six rickshaws were to proceed 
in couples when the streets were not crowded, one of 


110 


PACIFIC SHORES 


the five riding at his side. After they had ridden 
some minutes, Machida blew his whistle, and the pro- 
cession halted at the side of the Public Garden, 
which was also called the cricket ground and the 
football common, as it was used for all these pur- 
poses. It was not a great sight, though it was a 
pleasant place to pass an hour, or for the games in 
their season. It was bounded on one side by the 
Asahi-Cho, in which was the residence of Mr. Tama- 
mura, where they were going. 

At the door of the house they found the photog- 
rapher, who was as polite as he had been in the 
forenoon. He led the way into his house, and his 
wife and two daughters immediately presented them- 
selves to do the honors of the occasion. There was 
no hall, entry, nor vestibule ; and the company entered 
at once into a room of considerable size, which the 
guide said was the sitting-room of the family. Hot a 
chair, a table, or other piece of furniture, was to be 
seen ; and Mrs. Blossom wanted to know where the 
people sat if it was a sitting-room. 

“I called it a sitting-room in English so that you 
could understand me ; but it is simply the apartment 
in which the family stay when not in the dining- 
room, or their chambers, as you would call these 
rooms,” the guide explained. 

The ladies invited their guests to be seated, which 
Machida interpreted to them. The hosts seated 
themselves ; and the American ladies tried to imitate 
them, but they made signal failures of the attempt, 


THE INTERIOR OF A JAPANESE HOUSE 111 

and finally took the position of tailors on the bench. 
The ladies, and the gentlemen when they joined 
them, sat upon their feet, in a manner so peculiar 
that the American ladies could not quite understand 
it. 

“ You can’t sit like Japanese yet a while ; for it is 
difficult to do so in the first place, and very tiresome 
after a short time to those who are not accustomed 
to it,” said Machida, laughing at the essays of Mrs. 
Blossom and Miss Blanche to follow the fashion. 
“ These ladies were brought up to sit in that manner 
from their early childhood, as soon as they were big 
enough to sit at all.” 

Sitting in Turkish fashion, they were very com- 
fortable, and had quite a chat with the lady of the 
house and her daughters, all of it through the medium 
of the guide ; and even the photographer would not 
trust himself to use more than two or three English 
expressions. While they were thus engaged, a servant 
girl brought in a table about six inches high, and 
placed it in front of them. Retiring, she soon appeared 
again with a tray, on which were tea-things, cake, and 
some kind of liquid in a glass bottle. The Japanese 
lady then took a bowl of considerable size, in which 
she poured some tea, and then a small quantity of hot 
water from the copper kettle on the stand. Then 
with a bamboo toddy-stick she proceeded to stir the 
mixture, taking the greatest care and pains with it. 
With the implement she pressed everything like a 
lump till she had pulverized it. She continued to 


112 


PACIFIC SHORES 


stir and beat the mixture till she was satisfied with 
it, and then poured it into the teapot, with more 
hot water, from which it was served in cups to all 
present. 

“ That is something like tea ! ” exclaimed Mrs. 
Blossom, when she had tasted the decoction. “ If I 
only had some milk and sugar, I should feel as though 
I was at home, especially if I had my little rocking- 
chair.” 

Machida interpreted what she said to the hostess, 
and told her that foreigners used milk and sugar in 
their tea, whereat she manifested a great deal of as- 
tonishment ; but she rang a little bell, aod the servant 
soon brought some sugar, but madam explained that 
she had no milk, and was very sorry. Only Mrs. 
Blossom put sugar in the tea, the others preferring 
to conform to the custom of the country. The 
worthy lady then declared that the tea was very nice, 
the best she had tasted in Japan. 

The host then poured some of the fluid from the 
bottle into a cup, and tendered it to Louis. Machida 
told him it was saki, a wine, or more properly a liquor, 
made from rice. Louis applied his lips to the cup ; 
and it seemed to him more like camphene than any- 
thing else, and he drank none of it. Machida ac- 
cepted a cup of it, and drank it ; but he explained to 
the host that all the party were temperance people, 
and never drank wine or liquor of any kind. Then 
the visitors were conducted over the house. 

On the second floor were the sleeping apartments ; 


THE INTERIOR OF A JAPANESE HOUSE 118 

but they were all thrown into one, and the guests 
judged that this had been done in order to show the 
strangers in what manner they lived, as they knew 
that Machida was in the habit of bringing them there. 
There were several alcoves to be seen, one of which 
the guide told them was the household shrine where 
the family worshipped. In two others Japanese pic- 
tures were hung. About the rooms were lying on the 
floor quite a number of mats, which were all three 
inches thick, almost enough to entitle them to be 
called mattresses. They are all six feet long and three 
feet wide, and these dimensions are the uniform size 
of which all mats are made in Japan. The size of 
a room is not given in ken , six feet, or shaku , One 
foot, but as so many mats, as a four-mat room. 

On the floor were a number of what we should call 
crickets, but they were the pillows used by the 
sleepers. They are of wood, and the top is softened 
by the use of a mat j and in cold weather a robe is 
thrown over the person. Scott declared that these 
beds were good enough for any one ; but he was a 
sailor, and had often slept on less comfortable beds. 
The ladies, however, dissented from his view, and 
preferred something they could get into, as they 
expressed it. 

Then the family, in a very short space of time, trans- 
formed the large apartment into five smaller ones, 
with a vestibule and passage-way leading to them. 
In the latter was a very handsome cabinet of polished 
wood and glass, with shelves of the latter material, on 


114 


PACIFIC SHORES 


which were various ornamental articles, which must 
have been of considerable value. But the visitors had^ 
got the idea of the interior of a Japanese house, and 
took their leave of their kind hosts with many ex- 
pressions of thanks, esteem, and regard. Mounting 
the rickshaws, they went to the shop of the photog- 
rapher, where he soon joined them. 

Mr. Tamamura showed them his stock of views, 
which illustrated the scenery, the people, and the 
manners and customs of the country. The result was, 
that the selections made by the company amounted to 
over one hundred yen , for they had always purchased 
such pictures in all the countries they had visited. 
Doubtless the photographer believed he had done a 
good day’s business ; but he was mentioned in Mur- 
ray, and well spoken of at the hotel. The rest of the 
afternoon was spent in riding through the streets of 
the native town, with an occasional halt to see some 
artificer at work, or other native occupation. There 
was an abundance of sights to be seen ; and most of 
them interested all the party, weary as they had 
become, or professed to be, of sight-seeing. A maker 
of ropes at work in an open space, a man selling 
old clothes to a woman with a baby on her back, 
attracted their attention. Two fat women spinning 
with a wheel at the open door of a house reminded 
Mrs. Blossom of her grandmother, though the appa- 
ratus was quite different. A kitchen-girl, washing a 
kettle at another door, had her teapot at her side, 
as though nothing could be done without it. In one 


THE INTERIOR OF A JAPANESE HOUSE 115 


place a man seemed to be buying up broken crockery, 
which the guide said he mended and sold again ; and 
that he did his work so skilfully that it could not be 
seen that the piece had ever been broken. 

At an early hour Machida gave the order to return 
to the hotel, where the “ Big Four ” talked over the 
excursions in the Blanchita. 


116 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XII 

A VISIT TO THE BLUFF GARDENS 

In the evening the “ Big Four ” went out with the 
guide to walk about the town ; and their principal 
occupation was looking into such stores and houses 
as were lighted, which was the case with only a por- 
tion of them. The restaurants, tea-houses, and saki- 
shops were doing a lively business. The dwelling- 
houses were generally open in front in the. early 
evening, though the occupants are compelled by law 
to close them for the night to diminish in some meas- 
ure the temptation to thieves. 

The weather was warm, and the fronts of the 
houses were more or less open. In one they saw a 
nurse with a baby on her back, very angry with a 
lady in European dress, the child making the most 
of the disturbance, fighting the stranger, if such she 
was, in a very vigorous manner. 

“Did you see the beginning of that row ? ” asked 
Machida. 

“ I did not,” replied Louis. 

“I did,” said Eelix; “ at least, I suppose it was the 
beginning I saw. The foreign lady kissed the child ; 
and 1 did not blame her a bit for it, for the little one 
was very pretty.” 


A VISIT TO THE BLUFF GARDENS 117 

“ The babies here do not like kissing, and will not 
stand it at all,” Machida explained. “ Half the oc- 
cupation of mothers, sisters, nurses, and visitors 
would be gone if they lived in Japan, where no kiss- 
ing is done.” 

“ Don’t mothers kiss their babies here ? ” asked 
Morris Woolridge. 

“Not at all; the babies are not brought up that 
way, and they won’t submit to it.” 

“Didn’t you ever kiss your mother, Machida?” 
asked Louis. 

“Never; my mother would have suspected that I 
was losing my senses if I had attempted to do such a 
thing,” laughed the guide, as they passed on. “ If I 
want to caress one of my children, I simply rub my 
hand across the top of his head, and that is the same 
thing as kissing here.” 

They looked into a s<z/a-shop, where the liquor was 
sold at retail. If the form of tippling was somewhat 
different from that of New York, the. operation was 
really the same ; and as it was now about nine o’clock 
in the evening, not a few of the large number present 
were becoming rather hilarious. It was actually a 
“rum-shop,” as the writer has seen such labelled in 
large letters in the Windward and Leeward Islands in 
the West Indies. None of the boys had any taste 
for this kind of amusement, especially as they could 
not understand what was said by the most boister- 
ous of the revellers, and they remained but a few 
minutes. Passing into a street at one corner of the 


118 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Public Garden, which extended parallel with Honcho- 
Dori, they continued their walk. 

“ This is Sumi-Yoshi-Cho,” said the guide, as he 
halted before a large building around which a con- 
siderable crowd was assembled. “This building is the 
Minatoza, the largest and finest theatre in Yokohama. 
Would you like to see a part of a Japanese play ? for 
if you wanted to have the whole of it, you would be 
obliged to come early in the forenoon, and sit here 
all day, and sometimes half the night.” 

“ I should like to see a little of it,” replied Louis ; 
“ but I don’t think we could stand a great deal of it.” 

“.All right ; you can take as little or as much of it 
as you please,” said Machida. “ I warn you that the 
plays are ordinarily very sensational, as you would 
say in New York.” 

“Blood and thunder, I suppose,” added Scott. 

“ Precisely so ; and without much of what you call 
plot in them. They are often historical, in which the 
valiant deeds of our ancestors of the remote past are 
portrayed in a very matter-of-fact way, or legendary, 
in which the gods and goddesses are introduced.” 

“ We saw a play of the kind you mentioned last in 
India, in which wonderful miracles were wrought,” 
said Louis. “ By the way, do women go on the 
stage in Japan ? ” 

“Never. The female parts are taken by handsome 
young men ; at least, by those we think are handsome, 
though you may not so regard them.” 

“ In Bombay we all believed that the females were 


A VISIT TO THE BLUFF GARDENS 119 

really such ; and it was very difficult to convince our 
surgeon that they were boys. 

“ I suppose you will not wish to stay long in the 
theatre, and we will not make a business of it this 
evening,” said Machida. “ If you like it well enough 
to see more of it, we will go in the forenoon, either 
here or in Tokyo, and make a day of it.” 

“ I doubt if we shall care to do that ; we prefer to 
wander about the streets.” 

u Just as you please. When a Japanese gentleman 
is going to the theatre he makes a regular business of 
it. He does not go or send to the box-office, as you 
do in New York, but goes or sends in advance, if 
there is a very popular play, to a tea-house for his 
tickets. There is such a place next door ; and the 
proprietor takes upon himself, not only the securing 
of the places, but undertakes to see his patron 
through the entire performance, providing him with 
such refreshments as he desires, and taking him to 
his box to see that he is comfortably situated.” 

“ We don’t care to go into all that ceremony ; we 
would just like to look into the theatre, and will take 
standing seats,” replied Louis. 

The guide procured the necessary tickets, and they 
went into the theatre. The first thing that attracted 
their attention was the curtain, on which was painted 
a gaudy picture, with a sentence under it in J apanese 
characters which of course they could not read, but 
the meaning of which they were curious to know ; and 
they called upon Machida to give them the interpre- 
tation of it. 


120 


PACIFIC SHORES 


He read it off at once. “Presented by Narita 
Yamatoya, who sells the very best saki near this 
theatre.” 

“Then a tippling-shop is permitted to advertise 
its business in a public theatre ! ” exclaimed Louis. 
“ That is worse than New York ; for I have heard 
that respectable advertisements were displayed on 
the curtains of some theatres several years ago, but 
I don’t think they would permit a rum-shop to do 
so.” 

The curtain went up, and a dance was the next 
thing presented, but appeared to be a part of the 
play, for the performance went on. It was a love- 
story, in which it appeared, with the help of the guide’s 
explanations, that the heroine was the fiancee of a 
gentleman who was blind. The girl had a younger 
and more attractive lover, who was the hero of the 
drama. The enamoured swain evidently was very 
much in love, for he amused himself by watching 
the house of the maiden at night. The mansion was 
entered by half a dozen burglars ; and the fair lady 
screamed, as fair ladies are very apt to do on such 
occasions. The bold lover bravely hastened to her as- 
sistance. The stage revolved, presenting a new scene, 
in which the lady was beset by the ruffians, who had 
broken into the house. 

Of course there is only one thing for the valiant hero 
to do ; and he attacks the burglars with a short sword 
which he providentially has in his belt, and in a very 
brief period of time he has slain the whole gang of 


A VISIT TO THE BLUFF GARDENS 121 

six villains, and the maiden smiles upon him. Louis 
Belgrave was a young man of education and taste, 
and he did not care to see any more of the perform- 
ance. His companions happened to be of the same 
mind, and they did not stay to see whether the valiant 
lover or the blind gentleman married the fair maiden, 
a denouement which was not likely to be achieved 
till midnight or later. 

It was nearly ten o’clock • and they went to the 
hotel, where they found the rest of the tourists as- 
sembled in the drawing-room. When Mrs. Belgrave 
learned where her son had been, the party wished to 
know about the visit to the theatre, and Louis told 
the story ; but Miss Blanche wished to know which of 
her lovers the maiden married, Louis could not tell, 
and Blanche declared she was sorry for the blind 
man, but of course the maiden became the wife of her 
gallant defender. The plans for the next day were 
then looked over, and the company retired. 

Louis was out of bed before six in the morning, 
and went out upon the veranda, where he gazed for 
some time upon the sights to be seen on the bay. 
One of the Empress line of white steamers was com- 
ing in, and he thought she was a beautiful craft. By 
the side of the Guardian-Mother lay the Blanchita, 
which had been moved over from the Blanche, and 
the men were already at work putting in her coal. 
A great many fishing-junks and sampans were moving 
out of the harbor to begin their daily work, and the 
scene on the bay was quite lively. 


122 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Louis was soon joined on the veranda by his room- 
mates, who had dressed to take a walk on the Bund, 
Avhich was a very pleasant place for a morning airing. 
On the land side were detached buildings occupied as 
offices, artists’ galleries, shops, and for other purposes. 

“ This is the P. & 0. Company’s establishment, and 
it has very extensive accommodations,” said Louis, 
who had looked the ground over before. 

“ And what is the P. & 0. Company, Louis ? ” 
asked Morris. 

“ You must have heard of it ; for we saw some of 
its ships at Singapore, Colombo, and at about all the 
ports in India to which we went,” replied Louis. 
“ I think it is the largest steamship company in the 
world, though I may be mistaken. It has fifty-six 
steamers on its list, varying from three thousand to 
eight thousand tons burden. There is a weekly line 
to Bombay through the Suez Canal; and there is a 
steamer every two weeks to Colombo, Calcutta, the 
ports of China and Japan, and to Adelaide, Mel- 
bourne, and Sydney in Australia, where I suppose we 
are going when we leave Japan. The P. & O. is a big 
concern. You can go from this place to London in 
about fifty days, including stops.” 

“ I don’t think we shall ever go that way,” added 
Scott, as they resumed their walk. 

“ I met a gentleman at the hotel in Shang-hai who 
had come from London that way, and he said they 
had a fine time all the way, for it was a ship bound 
to Australia, by way of Colombo ; and they had music, 
cricket-playing, and other games,” said Louis. 


A VISIT TO THE BLUFF GARDENS 123 

They walked as far as the pier and custom-house, 
and then returned to the hotel, where breakfast was 
ready at such times as they chose to take it, and the 
meal was soon disposed of. 

“We are ready for our day’s tramp, Captain,” said 
Louis, as he came out of the dining-room, and found 
the commander at the office. 

“ The party are all up in the drawing-room, and 
you can go on your excursion as soon as you are 
ready. But it looks as though you had done Yoko- 
hama very nearly. By the way, Mr. Belgrave, you 
told the ladies something about your visit to a private 
house, and the ladies and gentlemen are very desi- 
rous of doing the same thing,” said the captain. 

“ I have no doubt Machida can bring it about with- 
out any difficulty. We had our pictures taken in a 
group, and bought pictures to the amount of over one 
hundred yen , though there was no trade to buy any- 
thing ; but the pictures were very fine.” 

“ Here comes Machida, and I will speak to him 
about the matter.” 

It was soon arranged that the other parties should 
meet at Mr. Tamamura’s house at two o’clock that 
afternoon, and would afterwards go to his shop in 
Benten-Dori. Machida had his six rickshaws all 
ready in the garden, and as soon as Mrs. Blossom and 
Miss Blanche had finished their breakfast the section 
left the hotel. They went first to the photographer’s 
to arrange for the parties in the afternoon, and then, 
by winding roads, climbed the hill to the Bluff Gar- 


124 


PACIFIC SHORES 


den. The principal attraction there was the view 
from the hill, which the company enjoyed very much. 
Then they went to the chaya , or tea-house, at the 
head of the hundred steps, called the Fujita, which is 
largely frequented by foreign ladies and gentlemen. 

Seated on a bench was an old man, who was said to 
be always contemplating the difference between the 
old and the new Yokohama, and there are such per- 
sons in almost any town ; and he was sometimes 
asked to tell stories of the olden time. It is said 
that the first stranger to visit this tea-house was 
Commodore Perry, and that he wrote a poem on a 
Japanese fan, and attempted to play some native airs 
on a koto , or native harp. It has been visited by a 
great many distinguished foreign officials, including 
two sons of the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edin- 
burgh, the Emperor of Brazil, and others. General 
Grant started twice to visit the Fujita, but both 
times was prevented from ascending the hundred 
steps by violent winds and rain. The Perry poem on 
the fan was lost by fire, but the commodore’s harp is 
still retained in the building erected on the site of 
the one burned. 

From the Bluff the party descended to the United 
States Naval Hospital, the grounds of which enclose 
a mound which is the tomb of a Shogun, or emperor, 
of which there were three on the Bluff formerly, 
though two of them have been levelled. On the 
premises is an ancient cave, which may have had its 
purpose in ancient days, but is now used as a cellar 


A VISIT TO THE BLUFF GARDENS 125 

for the storage of petroleum. The section next pro- 
ceeded to the cemetery near the hospital. The tombs 
were close together, so close as to cause some re- 
marks on the part of the visitors. 

“ Our people are not buried here as they are in 
America,” interposed Machida. “ Most of the coffins 
used here are two feet and four inches square and 
four feet high, for nearly all the dead are buried in 
a sitting position. The tombs, you notice, correspond 
in form and size to the coffin. It would take me too 
long to tell you about the burial ceremonies, but you 
may see them for yourselves in Tokyo or some other 
city. We will go now to the Cremation Grounds, 
which are not far off.” 

This enclosure comprised several acres. When a 
funeral, in which the body is to be disposed of by 
cremation, occurs, the remains are received in a build- 
ing in which incense is burned, and where a priest 
reads from certain sacred books, and other religious 
ceremonies are performed. The coffin is then con- 
veyed to the back grounds, as they are called, where 
the cremating ovens are erected. The building which 
contains them is provided with two ovens for first- 
class funerals ; for they are classified, as in Paris and 
some other places, four for second-class, and twelve 
for third-class. These ovens are of different sizeg, 
the first class being the largest. 

When the coffin is put into the oven, the double 
iron doors with which it is supplied are closed, and 
they are then covered with clay to make them fire- 


126 


PACIFIC SHORES 


proof. The door of the room is finally locked, and 
the key given to the nearest relative of the deceased. 
Wood is used for fuel, and the cremation occupies 
about four hours. At the end of this time the ashes 
are collected and deposited in an urn, retained by 
the nearest friend. The officials were very polite, 
and a fee of twenty sen is in order for each visitor. 

The party then drove to a manufactory of lacquer- 
ware, and were at the hotel at lunch-time. 


BUDDHIST AND SHINTO SERVICES 127 


CHAPTEE XIII 

BUDDHIST AND SHINTO SERVICES 

Some of the art industries of Yokohama were very 
interesting, even to the boys ; and they visited the 
Gota Manufactory of Enamelled Wares, observing the 
eight processes of polishing the goods, attended by an 
expert who spoke English, and explained everything 
to them when the card of the Grand Hotel was pre- 
sented. The manufactory of earthenware was hardly 
less interesting. The lacquer-ware works were in- 
cluded in their industrial round, and they obtained 
a great many new ideas in art from what they saw. 
They did not get back to the hotel till nearly dinner- 
time, and the other three parties had not yet re- 
turned. 

The commander, after consultation with the mem- 
bers of the three sections, had changed the entire 
programme, so that the afternoon, after visiting the 
residence of Mr. Tamamura, had been devoted to the 
native city. There were eleven of them ; and they 
had gone to the shop of the photographer, and were 
so well pleased with his pictures that the members 
had purchased to the amount of more than two hun- 
dred yen . All four of the divisions had been kept 
busy, and all the members of them were very tired. 


128 


PACIFIC SHORES 


After dinner the commander announced, that, as the 
next day was Sunday, no sight-seeing would be done, 
that all would find a church of their own faith, or 
very near it, and that all needed information could 
be obtained at the office. Then he had the further 
announcement to make that no more time would be 
given to Yokohama, and that on Monday morning the 
company would go to Tokyo, spending two days there. 
The tourists would return to the Grand Hotel Wed- 
nesday, and remain there two or three days and the 
following Sunday for rest ; for he thought they would 
need it by the time they returned. 

On the Monday morning after this rest they would 
proceed to Enoshima via Kamakura. The Blanchita 
would be fitted out precisely as she had been in Bor- 
neo, and would convey the “ Big Four,” and as many 
of the remainder of the company as preferred to go 
by water, to Kamakura, where they would join the 
main body of the tourists, or at Enoshima ; the route 
would be more definitely described in the future. 

“ How are we to go to Tokyo, Mr. Commander ? ” 
inquired Louis. 

“ By railroad in about fifty minutes,” replied Cap- 
tain Ringgold. 

“ Why can’t we go in the steam-launch, sir ? ” 

“ Because in the Bay of Tokyo the bottom of the 
water is too near the top.” 

“But I believe, Captain, that small steamers run 
from Yokohama and elsewhere to the capital,” per- 
sisted Louis. 


BUDDHIST AND SHINTO SERVICES 129 

“ I don’t know about that ; I have not looked it up. 
But you may inquire into the matter, and report to 
me, Mr. Belgrave.” 

“ I will do so, sir ; and I think Machida can obtain 
all the information I need.” 

During the afternoon the travellers visited such 
places of interest in Yokohama as the several guides 
suggested to their sections ; but Louis remained in 
his room, looking over books relating to Japan, es- 
pecially Murray’s Hand-Book, and “ Japan As We 
Saw It,” the latter by Mr. Bobert S. Gardiner, and 
both of which had been added to the library of the 
ship, and had been studied by some of the party as the 
ship approached the “ Land of the Bising Sun.” 

The young millionaire found Murray a very valu- 
able book, rather too diffuse for ordinary every-day 
use, but precisely what was wanted to study up the 
country in detail, with a profusion of maps, but no 
illustrations. Mr. Gardner’s work is a pamphlet of 
one hundred and thirty-five pages, containing an abun- 
dance of excellent illustrations, quite as instructive 
as the text itself. This book had been more in de- 
mand than any other, and for the ordinary traveller 
in Japan was quite sufficient. It had been read 
through with interest by all the party, and was in 
constant use for reference. But Louis’s need was 
special, and he applied himself more to Murray. He 
hardly expected to find the depth of water in the Bay 
of Tokyo in any of the books, and all the charts were 
on board of the ship. 


130 


PACIFIC SHORES 


In Murray he found that small steamers plied be- 
tween the capital and the small ports on the bay, as 
well as up the Sumida-Gawa River, which discharges 
itself into the bay in the eastern part of the city. 
But this information solved the problem to the satis- 
faction of the young man; for if the head of the bay 
would float the small steamers, it would extend the 
same grace to the Blanchita. He knew where the rest 
of his party were going with Machida; and in the 
garden he called a rickshaw, and asked a hotel man 
to give him the proper direction. The motor-man’s 
principal direction was to find Machida. 

After some little difficulty he was found, and the 
party were very glad to have Louis with them again. 
They were attending a Buddhist service in a temple, 
which was not a great curiosity as a building ; and 
this class of edifices had been ignored in Yokohama, 
for the books assured them that the proper place to 
see them to the best advantage was at Osaka and 
Kyoto. In a sort of alcove ornamented with a va- 
riety of incomprehensible objects, with a stand on 
which was an urn from which proceeded the smoke 
of incense, stood a fat bozu, or priest, who was con- 
ducting the service. He was dressed in a long robe, 
gorgeous enough for a theatrical spectacle. Behind 
him were other priests clothed in colored robes, the 
one nearest to the officiating bozu bearing a censer. 
The alcove was enclosed by a picket fence, against 
which the audience were leaning ; and behind it were 
other priests with boxes, collecting money, which 


BUDDHIST AND SHINTO SERVICES 131 

was bestowed mostly in copper coins of the smallest 
value. 

“ What does all this mean, Mr. Machida ? ” asked 
Miss Blanche, bewildered by the ceremonies. 

“ It is a service in honor of a deceased disciple of 
Buddha, and the altar is decorated more than usual.” 

“What do those people who keep coming in say 
when they lie down upon their faces ? ” 

“ Namu , Amida , Batsu ! which means, Hail, Omnip- 
otent Buddha ! ” replied the guide in a low tone. 

Some of it was not unlike the ceremonies of the 
Roman Catholic Church ; but none of it could the 
Americans understand, even as well as the Latin of 
the Roman Church. Bells were rung, more candles 
lighted, incense burned, and the priests chanted the 
words which Machida had just interpreted. The offi- 
ciant then retired, and four priests appeared, each 
bearing a small table, upon which was arranged a pile 
of papers cut into narrow slips. The four men were 
provided with brushes, or pencils, with which all the 
writing is done in both China and Japan, and sponges 
which contained the ink, convenient for moistening 
the brushes. 

“ What are they going to do now ? ” asked Mrs. 
Blossom, whose curiosity was greatly excited, and who 
watched the proceedings with the greatest interest, 
and seemed to be afraid she should lose some of 
them. 

The appearance of the priests with the tables and 
writing-materials produced a decided sensation among 


132 


PACIFIC SHORES 


the audience outside of the fence. The men began to 
call out in brief sentences ; but the strangers could 
not understand a word they said, and Machida could 
not explain on account of the noise of the shouting. 
But the priests were men of order and method ; and 
after the desks had been arranged to their satisfaction, 
they caused the crowd, as it had become by this time, 
to be placed in files so that they could be served in 
proper time. 

“ What are they going to do now ? ” asked Mrs. 
Blossom, when she could get at the side of the guide. 

“ These people want prayers,” replied Machida. 

“Well, I think they need them, and I hope they 
will get the right kind.” 

“ I am afraid they would not do you any good,” 
laughed the Japanese ; and he did not seem to be- 
lieve in their efficacy any more than the Ameri- 
cans. “That man at the table is doing the thing 
by wholesale, for he calls for ten prayers. Those 
strips of paper are printed prayers, and the man has 
received the number he called for. Now observe 
him, madam.” 

Mrs. Blossom did observe him with all her eyes as 
he came out from the table, admitting another to the 
presence of the priest. The devout Buddhist put the 
slips of paper on which the prayers were printed into 
his mouth, and chewed them up as though they had 
been bread or meat, and Mrs. Blossom expected to 
see him swallow them ; but he did not. He took 
the paper from his mouth, rolled them up into a 


BUDDHIST AND SHINTO SERVICES 133 

pellet, and then threw them against the wire screen 
in front of a small statue of Buddha. 

“ Is that the way they realize the efficacy of 
prayer?” asked the worthy woman, who was very 
religious, and believed in prayer ; but she was scan- 
dalized by the performance she had just witnessed, 
and she asked Blanche what could be expected of 
idolatrous heathen ; and then she retreated as far as 
she could from the scene. The others observed the 
proceedings some time longer, Machida explaining to 
them what the devotees prayed for. 

“ I am going fishing, and I want one prayer that 
I may have good luck,” said one of them. 

“ One for me that I may find a pot of money,” 
was the next ; and the last two were written by the 
priests, chewed up, and used as the others had been. 

“ That is enough for me, and it reminds me of 
the play of very small children,” said Louis, as he 
retreated to the side of Mrs. Blossom. 

The rest of the party had also had enough of it by 
this time, and they retired, Scott having something 
to say about “ spit-ball prayers.” Putting on their 
sandals, they went out into the street, and mounted 
the rickshaws ; but Louis blew his whistle after they 
had gone but a short distance. They did not leave 
the vehicles, for the attraction was in plain sight. 
It was a man sawing a log into planks or boards. 
The log had a kind of frame under it, which did duty 
as a sawhorse, placed about one-third of the length of 
the stick from one end of it, which raised that end 


134 


PACIFIC SHORES 


three feet from the ground. The stick was therefore 
at an angle with the earth, pointing up into the air. 
The man was mounted on the log, and was working 
hard with a rather short saw, which he made effective 
as he drew it towards him, instead of the opposite 
direction, as in England and America. 

“ How long will it take that man to saw that log 
into planks, Machida ? ” asked Scott. 

“ If he does it in three days, he will do well ; and 
it would take him a week to make it into inch 
boards,” replied the guide. 

“ We should do it in a sawmill in fifteen minutes 
at least; and some of our machinery would do it in 
five minutes.” 

“We have saw-pits also, where they use two- 
handed saws, and work two three times as fast as 
that fellow we saw,” added Scott. 

“Now, as you have seen a Buddhist service, per- 
haps it would be fair play for you to see a Shinto,” 
suggested the guide ; and as the party assented, he 
directed the motor-men where to go. 

The rickshaws stopped at a torii, which consists 
of two posts, with a crosspiece reaching from one to 
the other at the top. The section descended to the 
ground, and passed through this gateway, which re- 
minded some of them of the signs over a railroad 
crossing at home. 

“What is this thing for, Machida?” asked Louis, 
pointing to the gateway as they passed under it. 

“ Torii means a resting-place for birds, put up be- 


BUDDHIST AND SHINTO SEBVICES 135 

fore Shinto shrines. The feathered tribe were con- 
sidered as offered to the gods, though they were 
never sacrificed ; and it was a humane rather than a 
bloody idea/’ the guide explained. “ On the right 
here is a big lantern and a cistern, the latter fille^L 
with holy water. Observe that man coming in, and 
you will see what it is for.” 

The Japanese went to the cistern, dipped his 
fingers in the water, and then applied them to his 
lips and to his eyes. Then he walked to a flight of 
broad steps leading up to the building containing the 
shrine, and the structure looked like one of the one- 
story houses which we see by the side of any road 
in the country at home. Here he seized a piece of 
cotton cloth, which proved to be attached to a bell, 
and rang vigorously. Then he knelt, clapped his 
hands three times, and bowed his head. He was 
evidently praying to the Shinto gods, of which there 
are about eight millions. The guide explained a 
great many emblems, which mean very little apart 
from the objects. 

The party passed into a second temple. They had 
hardly entered, before a bozu , who seemed to be on 
the lookout for business, came into the room, fol- 
lowed by a girl who appeared to be a priestess ; for 
she wore a short white tunic over her long robe, and 
carried a cluster of small bells in her right hand, and 
a stick to which was attached a number of paper 
squares, sacred emblems, in the other. The man 
brought in a drum, and was armed with a couple of 


136 


PACIFIC SHORES 


sticks. He placed his instrument on a stand like 
that of a kettle-drum. The priestess advanced to a 
metallic mirror the party had noticed, and chanted in 
quivering tones before it, ringing her bells at the 
same time, while the priest beat his drum for all it 
was worth. 

The party, who were not greatly impressed by the 
religious performance, were about to depart, when the 
priest approached them, and proposed to sell them 
some charms, which would cure diseases, and save 
them from various calamities. But they had no faith 
in the efficacy of the charms, and declined to buy, 
though Louis gave him fifty sen for what he had 
done to entertain and instruct them. Machida said 
he obtained more by this gift than if he had sold all 
his charms. 

“ It is six o’clock now,” said Machida, after look- 
ing at his watch. “Will you see more sights this 
afternoon, or shall we return to the hotel ? I am at 
your service, and I will do whatever you desire. But 
we go to Tokyo next Monday ; and you will see many 
of the same things you have seen here, though there 
are some things there that you can see in no other 
place in Japan.” 

“ I have had enough for to-day, and I am tired,” 
replied Miss Blanche ; and Louis always did as she 
desired. 

“ I don’t want to see anything more to-day, and I 
shall be glad to go back to the hotel,” added Mrs. 
Blossom. 


BUDDHIST AND SHINTO SERVICES 137 


The motor-men were instructed, and in a short 
time they reached the Grand Hotel. The other sec- 
tions appeared to have worn out their members, for 
all of them had returned. Louis made his report to 
the commander, and was permitted to make the trip 
to the capital in the Blanchita. Machida had al- 
ready been spoken to in regard to engaging a pilot 
for the bay, and he had attended to that duty. 


138 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XIV 

THE VISIT TO THE CAPITAL OF JAPAN 

On Sunday most of the tourists went to church, 
some to the Methodist, some to the Union, and Pro- 
fessor Giroud to the Roman Catholic. The people, 
recognizing that they were strangers, were very kind 
and attentive to them. All of them walked for the 
sake of the exercise, as there was to be no tramping 
over the city to be done that day. It was really a 
day of rest to them ; and having used it as such, they 
were in excellent condition for the visit to Tokyo the 
next morning. Trains run about every hour all day, 
and make the trip in fifty minutes. 

The cars are of three classes, with as many differ- 
ent rates of fare, and are called carriages, as they 
would be in England, from which they came, though 
probably the Japanese are constructing them for 
themselves by this time. The fare is three sen a 
mile for the first class, two for the second, and one 
for the third. Each car is in compartments, and 
those of the first class are comfortable without being 
elegant. 

Except the “ Big Four,” the party all went by rail, 
for they desired to see the country through which 
the train passed ; but the boys had just as much 


THE VISIT TO THE CAPITAL OF JAPAN 139 

desire to see the shores of the Bay of Tokyo. The 
rickshaws had been spoken for by Shimidzu, who as 
chief guide attended to all the arrangements for 
excursions and transportation. He had already tele- 
graphed for accommodations for the party for three 
days at the Imperial Hotel at the capital. He was 
a very intelligent man, with excellent judgment, very 
active, and very attentive to all the wants of those 
under his charge. 

Mr. Boulong, the first officer of the Guardian- 
Mother, had come on shore Sunday, and had gone to 
church with the commander, and he had been ordered 
to send a boat on shore for the “ Big Four ” at sun- 
set; for they had decided to sleep on board of the 
ship in order to be ready for an early start the next 
morning. Machida and the pilot went off with them. 
An anchor watch was kept on board every night in 
port wherever the steam launch might be, and those 
who were to go in the Blancliita were called at four 
o’clock in the morning. The same crew that had sailed 
in the launch in Borneo had been detailed for ser- 
vice on this occasion, though it was hardly more than 
a frolic; since the boat was to be made fast to the 
shore during the stay at the capital, unless the pas- 
sengers decided to make an excursion up the Sumida- 
Gawa, which they were very likely to do ; for it must 
be acknowledged that they were all tired of sight- 
seeing, and were not at all anxious to visit even the 
temples of Japan, except as a matter of instruction. 
The Blanchita was under way as soon as it was day- 


140 


PACIFIC SHORES 


light, and the boys were likely to arrive at the capi- 
tal before those who went by rail and started at a 
later hour. 

The bay was from ten to fifteen miles wide. Pitts 
was directed to have breakfast at six o’clock, and the 
launch stood over towards the eastern shore of the bay. 
There was nothing to be seen except fishing-boats 
and junks, and as they approached their destina- 
tion, a number of dismantled forts, which the prog- 
ress of modern gunnery had rendered useless. The 
pilot took the Blanchita into the entrance of a canal, 
which describes a semicircle, and connects with the 
river in the eastern part of the city. The boys had 
taken their breakfast out in the bay, and they landed 
as soon as the launch came alongside the pier. 
Machida conducted them to the Shimbashi station, 
where he ascertained that the main body of the com- 
pany had not yet arrived, but were due in a few 
minutes. 

After breakfast the party at the Grand Hotel had 
taken the same rickshaws they had used before, in- 
cluding the double ones with two motor-men for the 
stout gentlemen, and proceeded to the railroad sta- 
tion. There was a great crowd there, many of them 
evidently being workmen or laborers. Policemen in 
uniform kept them in excellent order, and the cap- 
tain declared that everything about the station was 
well managed. Shimidzu procured the tickets for 
the company and their guides ; and they took their 
places in the compartments of the first class, though 


THE VISIT TO THE CAPITAL OF JAPAN 141 


not till some of the travellers had looked into those 
of the second and third, which were about the same 
in quality as in England. 

The train passed out of the town; and the first 
station at which it stopped was Kanagawa, the place 
originally designated as the treaty port, but changed 
to avoid collisions between Japanese nobles and for- 
eigners. It was a noted post town on the Tokaido, 
which means in the vernacular the u eastern sea 
road,” because it extended along the shore of the 
country from Kyoto, the ancient capital, to Yedo, or 
as called in modern times Tokyo. Twice a year the 
Daimyos, or nobles, arrayed with great magnificence, 
went with armed retinues by this road to Tokyo, to 
pay their respects to the Shogun, who lived there, 
while the Mikado resided at Kyoto. Since the open- 
ing of the railroad, which now extends nearly the 
whole length of the principal islands, the Tokaido 
has fallen into disuse. Kanagawa appears to be a 
suburb of Yokohama. 

The rest of the route was through an agricultural 
region, though several small manufacturing villages 
were seen. The guides pointed out a grove of bam- 
boos, which seems to be quite as important a tree as 
in India, for no end of useful articles are made of it. 
But what particularly attracted their attention was 
the rice-fields, all of which were overflowed ; but 
these were no novelty to the travellers, for they 
had seen them in India, Java, and Sumatra, as well 
as in French Cochin China, where they had had 


142 


PACIFIC SHORES 


a better opportunity to study them than in other 
countries. 

On the arrival of the company at the Shimbashi 
station they were welcomed by the boys, who received 
them with three cheers, which was as much in honor 
of their earlier arrival as of that of their associates. 
As instructed by their chief, each of the guides se- 
cured rickshaws for his own section, and here each 
of them was provided with two motor-men. Matsu 
had to go a short distance from the station to obtain 
the double rickshaws for the “ Cupids ; ” but the com- 
pany were soon seated, and went off with a flourish 
at a high rate of speed, in the presence of quite a 
crowd of observers who had gathered to see them. 
The divisions of the company were now the same as 
in Yokohama, and Miss Blanche and Mrs. Blossom 
hade Machida a pleasant good-morning. 

“ This city does not appear to be as densely popu- 
lated as Yokohama,” said Louis, who was happy to 
be within speaking distance of Miss Blanche. 

“ It does not seem to be here ; but I suppose other 
parts of the town may be,” replied the fair maiden ; 
and many of the people in the street stopped to look 
at her, while the young gentleman at her side did not 
believe there was any beauty in the Japanese mythol- 
ogy that could compare with her. 

“We do not know much of anything about it yet, 
but I believe we are to be lectured in regard to it 
when we get to the hotel,” added Louis. 

It is but a short distance from the station to the 


THE VISIT TO THE CAPITAL OF JAPAN 148 

principal hotel; and the guides pointed out the Im- 
perial, which is a very large and imposing edifice, 
as soon as it was in sight. A circular garden, with 
a driveway around it, was arranged at the front por- 
tico of the hotel, where the rickshaws delivered their 
passengers, who were very politely welcomed by 
the proprietor and many attendants. As they were 
ushered into the grand vestibule of the establishment, 
the next person to greet them was their friend Mr. 
Psi-ning, dressed in a very gorgeous costume, for he 
was now attending to diplomatic duties. 

He grasped the hand of Captain Ringgold first, 
and then repeated the courtesy with every member 
of the party. Standing near him were two Japanese 
military officers in full uniform, as Machida said 
they were, and as Shimidzu informed the other 
parties. They were conducted to the drawing-room, 
where their Chinese friend made a very pretty 
speech, to which the commander replied. Then 
Mr. Psi-ning declared that he was exceedingly busy 
with his official duties, which were very important 
just then, and he regretted that he should be obliged 
to apologize to them because he could not give the 
company his personal attention ; but the government 
had detailed two military officers to attend to them, 
who were educated gentlemen, and spoke English 
fluently. 

“ Now, Captain Ringgold, I have the pleasure of 
presenting to you Major Yoshikawa and Captain 
Kondo, whom I will thank you to introduce to the 


144 


PACIFIC SHORES 


members of your party,” said the Mandarin in con- 
clusion ; and then he regretted that he was obliged 
to leave them. 

“ But you will dine with us, and spend the 
evening?” asked the commander 

“ I shall dine with you with the greatest pleas- 
ure, but we are so busy upon matters of great mo- 
ment that we are obliged to be at our business night 
as well as day. But I expect to see much more of 
you during the few days you remain in Tokyo,” said 
the official ; and then hastened to his rickshaw at 
the door, attended by the proprietor. 

The commander had chewed over the name of the 
major with the help of Shimidzu till he believed he 
could manage the pronunciation, and then he intro- 
duced the military gentlemen to the members of the 
party. Both of them had been in England and the 
United States; thus their English was unexceptional, 
and they proved to be very pleasant. They were 
both young men of twenty-five or thirty, and it was 
plain enough they were dazzled when introduced to 
the princess and to Miss Blanche. The captain of 
the ship had considerable conversation with Major 
Yoshikawa; and this gentleman accepted an invita- 
tion to tell the company something about the capital 
of Japan, after the educational character of the voy- 
age of the Guardian-Mother had been explained to 
him. 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said Captain Ringgold, 
after he had seated the party to his satisfaction, “ I 


THE VISIT TO THE CAPITAL OF JAPAN 145 

shall now have the pleasure and the honor of pre- 
senting to you Major Yoshikawa of the Japanese 
army, who has consented very kindly to give you 
some information in regard to the present capital 
of Japan.” 

The major stepped forward, and bowed as grace- 
fully as though he had just graduated from a Pari- 
sian dancing-school. He was received with the most 
hearty applause, at which he bowed several times ; 
and it was evident from the first that he was ac- 
customed to public speaking. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you with all my 
heart for the very kind reception you give to one of 
the poor heathen to whom you send missionaries 
from New York and Boston; but I desire to assure 
you that I am not as much of a heathen as I may 
seem to you at first sight, for I was educated at Har- 
vard College, and used to meet some of the savants 
of Boston at the Papyrus Club, as well as several 
others, and have often been in New York.” 

“ Have you ever been to Yon Blonk Park, Major 
Sossywinsky ?”. asked Mrs. Blossom, who happened 
to sit within reach of the speaker. 

“ I am sorry to confess that I have not,” replied 
the major with a hearty laugh. 

“Then, you have not been to all the places in the 
United States that are worth visiting,” added the 
good lady very complacently. 

“ Keep still, Sarah ! ” said Mrs. Belgrave, punch- 
ing her companion very resolutely. 


14G 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ I shall certainly go there if I ever visit America 
again. But I am to speak of Tokyo ; and I may say 
that it will not be the first time, for I have lectured 
about this city in several places in your country ; but 
I know Americans tolerably well, and I will make 
it short. In 1590 Yedo, as the place was called then, 
was only a rude sort of a fortress, with a few scattered 
villages collected around it for the security it afforded 
them. This fortress was founded before the discov- 
ery of America by Columbus ; but I will not go back 
1,500 or 2,000 years to tell you about the beginning of 
Japan. The Shoguns had their palace here, and it 
was several times destroyed by fire. 

“ In 1868 his Majesty the Mikado, or Emperor, 
moved here from Kyoto, and his palace has since 
been burned ; and Tokyo is a great place for fires, so 
that we really need the fire-department of New York 
or Boston ; though perhaps that would not put an end 
to the conflagrations, for the buildings are spread 
over an immense territory, and are largely of wood 
or plaster. Formerly the Mikados were regarded as 
the spiritual rulers of J apan, while the Shoguns were 
the real ones ; but the latter w r ere cast out in 1868, 
and the Mikado became the actual Emperor, and es- 
tablished himself in Yedo, but changed the name of 
the town to shake off its connection with the former 
rulers. The former name of the capital means es- 
tuary, from the mouth of the Sumida-gawa, which 
drains the great plain on which the city is situated. 
The eastern boundary of the city had been working 


THE VISIT TO THE CAPITAL OF JAPAN 147 

to the eastward by the process of filling up, for the 
southern part of the town was low and marshy. 

“ The Shogun’s palace, or castle, was burned down 
in 1863 ; and when the Emperor came here five years 
later, he was obliged to occupy the residence of the 
heir apparent of the Shogun. This also was burned 
in 1873 ; and the Emperor moved into the Palace of 
Aoyama, now tenanted by the present Crown Prince. 
A new palace for his Majesty was built on the site 
of the old one. You will ride about the grounds 
near it, but I am sorry* that it is closed to foreigners. 

“ Fires have been the great detriment to the cap- 
ital. Several times the entire city has been de- 
stroyed ; and conflagrations are still frequent, and 
will be till a new law is enforced requiring that 
new buildings shall be of brick or stone. The his- 
tory of the city is covered with disasters, such as 
earthquakes, fires, typhoons, epidemics, floods, and 
droughts. In 1703 it is said that 37,000 people lost 
their lives in an earthquake. I stated that in 1590 
Yedo consisted of but a few villages ; but the popu- 
lation must have increased at a tremendous rate 
after that, for it is recorded that in 1773 an epidemic 
prevailed in which 190,000, chiefly of the lower 
classes, were carried off. The last great earthquake 
occurred in 1855, in which the loss of life was com- 
puted at 100,000 persons ; but this is now considered 
a gross exaggeration. 

“ Tokyo means ‘ eastern capital,’ as distinguished 
from Kyoto, which was the western capital. Most 


148 


PACIFIC SHORES 


of the mansions of the nobility here have been de- 
molished to make room for structures adapted to 
modern needs. Though the islands of Japan are 
moored to the bottom of the sea, the people are not ; 
and great changes have taken place in Tokyo. Not 
very many years ago you might have seen in our 
streets men bearing two swords, in token of their 
nobility or distinguished ancestry ; but now they are 
suppressed. Jinrickisha have taken the place of the 
kago , though some of the latter are still to be seen ; 
and many Japanese now wear European costumes. 
Foreigners can now travel in Tokyo, but cannot re- 
side here permanently, and cannot own land save in 
one quarter of the city. But I shall tire you out if 
I go on, and many things will come to your knowl- 
edge as you visit the different parts of the capital.” 

Major Yoshikawa bowed gracefully again, and re- 
tired amidst the applause of his audience. 


THE TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF SH1BA 149 


CHAPTER XY 

THE TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF SHIBA 

Shimidzu had retained all the rickshaws in which 
the party had come to the hotel, as the business of 
sight-seeing was to be resumed at once. The two 
military officers passed out of the hotel with the 
others, and their servants brought their horses up to 
the portico. The major and the captain both belonged 
to the cavalry service. Their steeds were rather 
small animals, like all the native horses they had 
seen ; and the officers would have been better mounted 
either in England or America. 

A pair of twin edifices not far from the Imperial 
had attracted the attention of the party as they went 
to the hotel ; and the procession, led by Major Yoshi- 
kawa, entered the enclosure of one of these buildings. 
It was what would be called the War Department in 
Washington, and the one next to it was the Navy 
Department. Gates and doors flew open at the beck 
of the major, and the party were taken all over both 
buildings. Some of the Americans were interested in 
the exhibition of military and naval materials, guns, 
pistols, cannon of all kinds, and, in fact, everything 
that could be classed as supplies in the departments ; 
but they were more interesting to look at than they 


150 


PACIFIC SHORES 


would be to read about, and no attempt to describe 
them will be made. 

When they had seen all that was to be seen in 
these buildings, they returned to the hotel, for it was 
very nearly lunch-time. Of course the officers were 
invited to join them at the table, where a jolly time 
was had, for both of the gentlemen were very merry 
fellows. But those who could talk among them- 
selves hoped they would not be taken to any more 
such places ; for the military and naval stores were 
rather a bore to some of them, while others were 
more interested than they had been in the sights 
about the streets, especially as they had been so 
clearly explained by the professional gentlemen. The 
afternoon was given to a similar examination of pub- 
lic buildings, such as the printing-house, the paper- 
manufactory, the arsenals, and similar establishments, 
some of which were very interesting, and there was 
always something to interest a portion of the tour- 
ists. The visits to the post-office and the treasury 
were gratifying to all. 

At dinner Mr. Psi-ning said the military officers 
could not attend them the next day, much to the sat- 
isfaction of a portion of the party. The commander 
was greatly obliged to them for the attentions be- 
stowed upon them, for they had proved to be very 
agreeable persons, and said that the company would 
be happy to see more of them before they left the 
city. But the guides were entirely competent to 
show them about, and the next morning sight-seeing 


THE TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF SHIBA 151 

about the city was begun in earnest. As has been 
stated, before, Tokyo is divided into fifteen districts, 
for some of the details of government. 

u These divisions are like the wards of the city of 
New York ; and there are smaller districts like pre- 
cincts, I believe they call them, but they have other 
uses here,” said Machida, while they were waiting for 
the rickshaws to come up to the portico. “ When you 
direct a letter to a person living in Tokyo, you put 
on the district in which he resides. In directing a 
stranger how to find any locality in the city, it is ne- 
cessary to give your motor-man the district as well as 
the number. Some say that Tokyo has an area of one 
hundred square miles, others say thirty-six. It is 
possible that different boundaries are taken by differ- 
ent authorities. One of these districts is Shiba, near 
the Shimbashi station where we came in yesterday 
morning ; and there our section will go this morning, 
for it is the best time to see the Shiba temples and 
chapels.” 

It was not more than a five minutes’ ride, and they 
had been over most of the way before. They crossed 
one of the bridges over the canal which circles 
through the centre of the city, and went some dis- 
tance beyond the Shimbashi station. As in Yoko- 
hama, they saw men and women at work out-doors ; 
and they seemed to Louis, who was somewhat accus- 
tomed to the use of tools, to be doing everything 
backwards, for the carpenter drew his plane towards 
him, avid made his saw cut in the same direction. 


152 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Mrs. Blossom declared that the women all sewed 
backwards. 

At a black fence the rickshaws halted at the 
whistle of the guide, and the party descended. The 
fence was put up to protect the delicate work of 
the gate of the Shiba Temples from the effects of 
the weather. They passed behind it; and though 
they had seen several Buddhist and Shinto edifices 
before, they had observed nothing that could com- 
pare with this portico. It was pure Japanese archi- 
tecture, and was most elaborately ornamented. A 
graceful roof rested on two columns, and the carving 
of the entire structure was ornate and beautiful. 
The three boys were not experts in architecture, but 
they gazed a long time in silence at the work before 
them. The Shiba Temples, to which this gateway 
was the approach, are regarded as among the chief 
wonders of Japanese art. 

“ Is this a Buddhist or a Shinto establishment, Mr. 
Machida?” asked Scott rather irreverently. 

“As in the Christian religion, there are a number 
of sects in the Buddhist faith ; and this is the head- 
quarters of the Jodo sect. In the several buildings 
here are the tombs of seven of the Shoguns ; two 
more are buried at Nikko, which is about one hun- 
dred miles north of the capital ; and six others are 
entombed at Ueno, in this city, which we shall visit. 
All these rulers received other names after death 
from those they had while living.” 

“ What’s that for ? ” inquired Mrs. Blossom. “ I 


THE TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF SHIBA 153 

shouldn’t think one of them would know his own 
brother.” 

u I can only say that it is the custom of the coun- 
try, or was, for there are no more Shoguns. You 
know that the Catholics give new names to the saints 
they canonize. Ieyasu, the hrst of the line of Toku- 
gawa, was the founder of Yedo, and took the sect 
established here under his protection, and decreed 
that the funeral tablets of his line should be placed 
here. A monastery had been founded in 1393, and 
was removed to this locality in 1596. In 1873 the 
Shintoists got possession of the monastery and its ap- 
pendages; but the principal structure caught fire in 
the beginning of 1874, and burned to the ground. A 
smaller and far less beautiful edifice has been erected 
on the spot by the Buddhists, who have recovered pos- 
session. It contains none of the mortuary chapels, 
and is used as a general place of worship, like the one 
we visited in Yokohama.” 

The party went into the temple described, but 
found nothing there to interest them ; in fact, after 
they had seen the beautiful gateway, the rest of the 
place looked decidedly tame. They had already con- 
cluded that they preferred to wander about among 
the shops. Machida acted as though he believed 
that it was his duty to show everything that was de- 
cidely Japanese ; and for a time the company believed 
they ought to see whatever was on exhibition, though 
they soon got over this feeling. They had seen some 
stone lanterns before. They could not see the use of 


154 


PACIFIC SHORES 


them ; for they were never placed where they would 
be needed at night, and Louis declared they must have 
been invented as a convenient gift for the nobles to 
present to ornament the temples of deceased Sho- 
guns. 

Close by the Buddhist buildings Machida pointed 
out the Kwankoba ; and it proved to be an immense 
bazaar, where every article in use could be had, and 
where the “ one price” system prevailed. Opposite 
the gate which led into this simple place with a big 
name, the party passed the “ Gate of the Imperial 
Tablet,” called so because over it is an inscription 
in gold letters, said to be in the handwriting of an 
earlier monarch of the seventh Shogun’s after-death 
name of the ruler, which was Yushoin, who died in 
1751. 

This gate is called remarkable for the pillars, with 
dragons twisted around them. The dragon, in all the 
possible shapes that Japanese ingenuity can devise, 
is a great institution in the “ Land of the Basing 
Sun ; ” for the fabled monster is seen almost every- 
where, and takes part in all the stories and legends 
of the country, and appears in the highest pinnacles 
of the temple, as well as when a naughty boy is to be 
frightened into submission. The party passed through 
this gate, and entered an inner court having two 
hundred and twelve bronze lanterns, which must 
have afforded the Daimyos of two hundred and fifty 
years ago and later an abundant relief for their 
pockets, as well as their reverential sentiments for 


THE TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF SHIBA 155 


the Shoguns ; and they seemed to be really “ show 
guns” for the benefit of after generations. 

Then they passed through a gallery of carvings of 
birds and flowers, magnificently painted, which ex- 
cited the admiration of all, especially the two ladies. 
Thus far the section had travelled on free passes ; 
but as they wished to see the interior of the temple, 
and the tombs of those who were so elaborately 
commemorated, Machida intimated that a fee of 
twenty sen for each person was required before they 
could penetrate any farther, though it was to be 
paid when they came out. But they were also 
under the necessity of removing their boots and 
shoes before entering. They had been warned be- 
forehand, and they had prepared themselves so that 
they could move about comfortably in their stock- 
ing feet. They had been through all these forms 
before in visiting churches and other holy places in 
Mohammedan countries, and not even Mrs. Blossom 
grumbled at the requirement. 

They were conducted by a bozu , or priest, directly 
into the apartment which contained the altar, or 
something that passed for it in a Buddhist temple. 
All these temples are divided into three portions, — 
an oratory, or outer apartment, a gallery, or con- 
necting corridor, and an inner sanctum. The party 
passed through all these apartments ; and they were 
dazzled by the shining gold, the colors of the paint- 
ing, and the ornamental plants and foliage with 
which they were decorated. This was a place of 


156 


PACIFIC SHORES 


worship; and in ancient times, when the Shogun 
went to church, he alone ascended to the sanctum 
sanctorum , while the first-class Daimyos placed them- 
selves in the corridors, and the smaller fry of the 
nobility had to remain in the oratory. 

The sanctum is very elaborately arranged and 
ornamented, and separated from the corridor by 
bamboo blinds, adorned with silk. It contains three 
double-roofed shrines of gold lacquer of the most 
gorgeous workmanship, and all held together by 
the most elegant and complicated metal-work. One 
of them contains the wooden image of the father of 
the sixth Shogun, and the other two those of the 
seventh and ninth ; but these images are never 
exhibited, because they had been presented by 
Mikados, and are therefore considered sacred. 

At the sides of the shrines are statuettes of the 
Shi-Ten?io, who guard the world against the attacks 
of demons, according to Buddhist theology. In front 
are those of Benten, who has already been intro- 
duced to the reader, and Kwannon, the goddess of 
mercy, to whom those in trouble address their 
prayers. Returning through the corridor, the visi- 
tors found enough to engage their attention till they 
came to what is called in Japanese “the Dividing 
Gate,” where they had an abundant exhibition of 
dragons in the carving, as well as of lions and uni- 
corns, seen through open work. 

They passed into a noble court flanked with more 
lanterns, and came to a staircase leading up to the 


THE TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF SHIBA 157 

tombs. They found one on each side. Below each 
is a. richly decorated oratory. The tombs are of 
stone, and in form suggest a pagoda. They stand 
on octagonal bases, with a stone balustrade around 
them. But the architecture and ornamentation are 
very simple compared with what the visitor has 
seen in the temple. At the base is a representation 
of the waves of the sea. 

The bodies of the dead rulers are said to have been 
buried at the depth of twenty feet, and to have been 
coated with vermilion and powdered charcoal to pre- 
vent decay, as the Egyptians embalmed their dead. 
In leaving the temple they passed through another 
court lined with stone lanterns, which leads to the 
tombs of the sixth, twelfth, and fourteenth Shoguns ; 
and the last contains the funeral tablet of his con- 
sort, which means his wife in this instance. As- 
cending a flight of steps, they came to the tombs of 
the three rulers named, and of the consort of the 
last, who was an aunt of the present Mikado, and 
after her husband’s death a special title was as- 
signed to his widow. 

« As we do not intend to study Buddhist theology, 
Machida, I think we have seen enough of temples,” 
said Louis, after the visitors had put on their shoes. 

“ I am sure I have seen enough of them,” added 
Miss Blanche ; while Mrs. Blossom, who was a very 
strait Methodist, declared in an undertone that they 
were all heathenism, and she did not want any more 
of them. 


158 


PACIFIC SHORES 


But the bozu consider Christianity heathenism ; and 
the Japanese used annually to go through the cere- 
mony of trampling on the cross as a contemptuous 
expression of their hatred of it as a religion, but 
they do not do it now. 

The visit to Shiba terminated in the ascent of a 
hill, which gave the party a pretty view of the bay. 
Near it is a pagoda, which is not open to visitors ; 
and also a monument erected only three years earlier, 
and they asked what it was. 

“ It is a monument to the memory of Ino Chukei, 
who lived in the present century, and who is re- 
garded as the father of Japanese cartography ; but 
they did not find out that he was a great man till 
after he w T as dead.” 

“ Father of what ? ” demanded Mrs. Blossom. “ I 
am sure I don’t know what he did any more than 
though he never lived. What was the — ography ? 
It was not geography, for I know something about 
that.” 

“ Our guide called it cartography ; but it is oftener 
called chartography, which gives a clew to its mean- 
ing.” 

“ It don’t give me any clew ; and I don’t know 
any better now than I did before,” replied the lady. 

“You know what a chart is, and you have seen 
many of them on board of the ship. It means the 
art of making charts and maps; but probably Mr. 
What’s-his-name did something more than make 
them, and invented or introduced the art of making 


THE TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF SHIBA 159 

them in this country. But it is nearly lunch-time, 
and I am in humor for that collation.” 

They descended the hill, pausing a few moments 
at the Temple of Benten, prettily located on an island 
in a lake filled with lotuses. The rickshaws had fol- 
lowed the party, and they soon reached the Imperial 
Hotel. 


160 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XVI 

A VISIT TO UENO PARK AND ASAKUSA 

“ Any more temples, Machida ? ” asked Scott, 
when they went out to take the rickshaws after lunch. 

“ There are many more to be seen ; but as you 
appear to have had enough of them, I shall give you 
nothing more than a running glance at a few more 
which come in our way this afternoon,” replied the 
guide, as they took their places in the vehicles. 
“ We shall go over to Akasaka and Azabu, which are 
north of Shiba, and west of the centre of the city. 
Is is the most elevated and the healthiest section of 
the capital. After glancing at a couple of temples, 
we shall take in the Imperial Palace.” 

“ Can we go into it ? ” asked Miss Blanche. 

“ I am sorry to say, Miss Woolridge, that it is not 
open to visitors ; but I can tell you something about 
it,” replied Machida. “ As you are aware, Japan was 
formerly a closed country to all the world, and there 
is still some of that exclusiveness left here.” 

The rickshaws started at the signal. Each of 
them had two men, the extra one pulling by a rope 
attached to the shafts, and passed over his shoulder. 
They went by the same streets as before, till they 
had crossed the bridge over the outer canal ; for there 


A VISIT TO UENO PARK AND ASAKCJSA 161 

is quite a labyrinth of them in the centre of the city. 
The procession halted at a musty-looking old build- 
ing, and the guide led the way into it. 

“This is the Shinto temple of Hikawa, very much 
out of repair, but notable for the antiquity of its 
foundation in the seventh century, which would make 
it twelve hundred years old ; but portions of it may 
have been rebuilt since its first construction. The 
main fact is, that the temple has existed in some form 
on this spot during the long period mentioned.” 

A glance at the temple was enough to satisfy the 
sight-seers j and they returned to the entrance, where 
the guide pointed out the house opposite. 

“ Perhaps you will feel more interest in that build- 
ing than in the temple ; for Sir Edwin Arnold lived 
there in 1889-90, while he was writing ( The Light of 
the World.’ ” 

The party were more interested in the fact stated 
than in most of the sights they had seen. Then they 
passed into the quarter Kojimachi, in which Machida 
announced that the most fashionable people of the 
capital resided. He pointed out the homes of princes, 
high officials, and foreign diplomats. On the top of 
the hill Kudan, they halted at the Shinto temple 
called Shokonsha, though it has another name. It 
was a very plain building, as were most of the edi- 
fices of this faith. 

“ This temple was built in 1869, for the worship of 
the spirits of those who had fallen while fighting for 
the Mikado the year before and in 1877, in what is 


162 


PACIFIC SHORES 


called the Satsuma Rebellion, after the province from 
which Saigo, the commander-in-chief, came. He had 
wrong views in regard to the intentions of the gov- 
ernment party, and was twice exiled to Vries Island 
for his rebellious utterances. He fell in the battle of 
Ueno, the site of which we shall visit this afternoon, 
with nearly all of the three hundred who adhered to 
him. You will consider the Japanese a very forgiv- 
ing race when I say that Saigo is still considered as 
the most perfect specimen of a true patriot and brave 
warrior ; and all the honors of commander-in-chief 
have been posthumously restored to him, and his 
memory is revered even in the Imperial court. The 
common people believe that his spirit has gone 'to 
dwell in the brightest star in the firmament. There 
is nothing in the temple but a dozen chairs for the 
officials who attend the ceremonials, and we need not 
go in.” 

The ride was resumed ; but after a little time the 
guide blew his whistle, and pointed out the moat 
which surrounds the Royal Palace. A very fine view 
was presented to the party. The body of water looked 
like a river with deep sloping banks, and a grove of 
trees on the lawn above. A vast flock of wild-fowl 
were fluttering in the water, and seemed to be en- 
gaged in some game which the spectators could not 
understand. The visitors were greatly interested in 
the sight, and some of them declared that it was bet- 
ter than most of the temples they had seen. Beyond 
the moat was the palace, and the procession proceeded 


A VISIT TO UENO PARK AND ASAKUSA 163 


till they came to a place which commanded a view of 
all that could be seen of it. The rickshaws came 
close together ; and Machida, taking a cutting from a 
newspaper, began to read a description of the interior 
of the palace, of which only a portion can be given. 

“ The imaginary visitor enters, passing through mas- 
sive iron doors, and by a corridor reaches the smaller 
of two reception-rooms. He seems to be in the first 
of an endless vista of crystal chambers, an effect 
produced by the sliding doors of plate glass. The 
decoration of these rooms is of the most exquisite 
character, the woods used are the choicest and most 
valuable to be had, and the workmanship is done 
with such skill as Japanese artisans only seem to 
possess” — the guide was reading from a Japanese 
paper. “ Every ceiling is a work of art, divided 
by deep brown lacquer-work into panels containing 
the most beautiful designs, painted, embroidered, or 
embossed. The walls are generally covered with rich 
brocades, except in the corridors, which have a thick 
embossed paper of charming tint and pattern, pro- 
duced by the Imperial Printing Bureau. Omitting 
some artistic criticisms, we come to the Banqueting 
Hall, which contains 540 square yards of floor, mak- 
ing an apartment nearly seventy feet square. Its 
vast expanse of ceiling glows with gold and colors, 
and the walls are hung with the most costly silks. 

“ The Throne Room is smaller, but is hardly less 
striking, even with its more subdued decoration. 
Everything about the palace shows infinite pains- 


164 


PACIFIC SHORES 


taking, 1 and is redolent of artistic instinct.’ The 
furniture was imported from Germany. Externally 
the principal buildings are all in pure -Japanese style. 
They cost $3,000,000 {yen, we may believe), to which 
must be added the contributions of wealthy natives, 
as well in material as in money.” 

“ But what are those plaster buildings we see out- 
side of the palace ? ” asked Mrs. Blossom. 

“ Those are the offices of the Imperial household 
department, by which you will understand the kitch- 
ens, pantries, stables, and such places. Now, on our 
way to Ueno, we will ride through the Ginza and 
Naha-dori. The former contains many shops in Eu- 
ropean style, and the latter is full of curio shops,” 
replied Machida. 

The excursionists found enough to look at in the 
Ginza, though none of them cared to enter the stores, 
for they could see the interiors from the street ; and 
if the truth must be told, they were tired of sight- 
seeing, and looked forward to the time when they 
should be at sea again on board of the Guardian- 
Mother, so they listened rather coldly to the an- 
nouncements of the guide. He stopped the vehicles 
on a bridge, and called the rickshaws within hearing 
distance of him. 

“This is Mehane-Bashi, or Spectacles Bridge, the 
last name on account of the shape of the arches be- 
low,” said Machida. “ I am not going to describe it, 
so you need not stop your ears ; but I ask you to 
look at the canal on your left, and I will tell you 


A VISIT TO TJENO PARK AND ASAKUSA 165 

a story about it. [Some of the boys clapped their 
hands.] Tsu-na-mu-ne, Daimyo of Sendai, which is 
in the north, though this noble spent much of his 
time in the capital, was a very wealthy man. He 
had fallen into bad habits, and was spending his 
money very lavishly at the Yoshiwara, in the north- 
east corner of the city.” 

“ What is it ? ” inquired Mrs. Blossom. 

“ I can describe it only to gentlemen. You may 
have noticed some young women who wear their 
obi , or belt, a wide sash, tied in a large bow in 
front, while all respectable ladies have it tied be- 
hind. They are the occupants of the Yoshiwara ; 
and I need say no more about them, though they 
also take the name of the place they inhabit. The 
Shogun, in order to cure him of his bad habit, and to 
put it out of his power to indulge in such reckless 
and wicked extravagance, compelled him to widen, 
and deepen this part of the canal at his own expense. 
He obeyed the order, though with much lamentation 
at the tremendous drain upon his exchequer. As his 
means were nearly exhausted, the remedy was ef- 
fectual,” the guide concluded, and blew his whistle. 

The party proceeded on their way to Ueno Park 
with only one stop, at the Nihon-Baohi, to enable Ma- 
chida to say that all the distances in Eastern Japan 
were reckoned from that bridge. They then rode 
through the Naha-dori, but stopped at none of the 
shops, though they were very much interested in ob- 
serving them from the street, and did not halt again 


166 


PACIFIC SHORES 


till they arrived at Ueno Park, which is the most 
popular resort in the city. Three National Indus- 
trial Exhibitions have been held here ; and all Tokyo 
comes to this locality in April to see the cherry-trees, 
which are then in full bloom. The tourists, tired of 
riding cramped up in the vehicles, were glad to walk 
in the long avenue of cherry-trees; but the glory of 
them was not there, for it was June and not April. 
Scott declared that the blossom season was nothing 
but a flash in the pan ; for the trees bore no fruit, and 
are cultivated all over the country for their flowers, 
like rose and lilac bushes. 

“ There is something to be said about this locality, 
if you are not so played out that you do not wish to 
hear me, for I am decidedly opposed to boring you,” 
said Machida, when they were all seated in the Park. 
“ I think some things about this vicinity will interest 
. you.” 

“ We are not tired of hearing you, Mr. Machida, 
for you always tell us something that is both interest- 
ing and instructive ; and I hope you will go on, though 
I speak only for myself,” replied Miss Blanche. 

No one could gainsay what the lovely maiden said ; 
and all of them applauded her remarks very vigor- 
ously, and shouted, “ So say we all of us ! ” 

“ I thank you heartily for what you have said, 
Miss Woolridge, and the others for their kind re- 
sponse. Ueno was formerly the Yedo residence, in 
the days of the Shoguns, of the Todo family. There 
was a superstition in that day that the northeastern 


A VISIT TO UENO PARK AND ASAIOJSA 167 

part of the capital was the most unlucky portion of 
the city. To remedy this misfortune, it was decided 
that a number of Buddhist temples should be erected 
here which should surpass all others in magnificence. 
The first one was built in due time on the site of the 
present museum, which you see yonder ; and it was 
accounted one of the triumphs of Japanese architec- 
ture. In 1868 a bloody battle was fought here be- 
tween the adherents of the Mikado and the Shogun ; 
and from shells or the incendiary torch the temple 
was set on fire, and burned to the ground. The outer 
gate, however, still exists, showing the bullets em- 
bedded in it. 

“ Here the Buddhist high-priest, always a son of the 
Mikado, resided, kept in a state of magnificent sla- 
very by the Shogun for political purposes ; for if the 
Court at Kyoto was at any time unfavorable in its 
policy to that of the ruler at Yedo, they could declare 
the high-priest to be the sovereign, and ignore his 
father. The last high-priest, sometimes called the 
Abbot, was subjected to this process, and was carried 
off by the partisans of the Shogun to Aizu, in the 
north, where they set up the standard of rebellion, 
and proclaimed the prince as the Mikado. The priest 
was the nominal head of the rebels j but they were 
defeated, and Yoshinobu, commonly called Keiki, 
came to the end of his reign, an event brought about 
in the first instance by the visit of Commodore Perry, 
and leading to the Europeanization of the nation. 

“ The last of the Shoguns is still living at Shizuoka, 


168 


PACIFIC SHORES 


in Suruga, a city of some importance on the railroad 
to the south, and resides there in quiet seclusion as 
a private gentleman. The prince who nominally led 
his armies was pardoned for doing what he could not 
help, and was sent to Germany to be educated, and 
now he is known as Prince Kita Shirakawa. Now, 
if you are tired of hearing me talk, we will walk a 
little.” 

They visited the twelve-story pagoda, but not car- 
ing to ascend, went to the lake where the lotus covers 
the surface, amT, blooms early in August. Taking 
the rickshaws again, they went to the museum ; but 
they passed quite listlessly through most of the 
rooms, hardly looking into any of the cases, except 
when Machida, who had obtained the gauge of his 
party, and knew what would please them, pointed 
out objects to them. 

“ Here are some earthenware images of men and 
horses used before history was written, to bury with 
illustrious persons as substitutes for their live re- 
tainers, who had been buried alive with them in still 
earlier ages,” said the guide ; and then leading the 
way to another room, he invited them to look into a 
case containing antiquities from Buddhist temples. 

They were more interested in the case that con- 
tained the Christian relics. In 1614 the Prince of 
Sendai sent a gentleman with a train of followers 
to Borne. Official accounts say that he went at the 
desire of the Shogun to look into the strength and re- 
sources of Europe. But the relics seem to indicate 


A VISIT TO UENO PARK AND ASAKUSA 169 

that the ambassador was converted to Christianity, 
for a painting represents him in prayer before a 
crucifix. The Pope received him kindly, gave him 
the freedom of the city, and the Latin document is 
among the relics. 

Among the various objects in the cases were 
“ trampling-boards,” consisting of oblong blocks of 
metal with figures in high relief of Christ before 
Pilot, the Descent v from the Cross, the Madonna and 
Child, and others of the same kind. When persons 
were suspected of being Christians they were re- 
quired to trample upon these castings, in order to tes- 
tify to their hatred of the “ depraved sect.” Six 
Shoguns are buried at Ueno in the great Buddhist 
temple, called Asakusa Kwannon because it is dedi- 
cated to the goddess of mercy, with which a tradition 
is connected ; but the party did not wish to see their 
tombs. Near the temple is the river Sumida-Gawa ; 
and the story runs that a fisherman, about thirteen 
hundred years ago, fished up the image that is now 
worshipped. 

The fisherman was really a nobleman who had 
been banished to this desolate part of the country, 
with two servants, and gained his living by casting 
his nets. The first altar to the image was raised in 
his fishing-hut, and some of the implements used in 
taking fish are used as symbols in the temple. The 
image is said to be only one and four-fifths inches in 
height. It is never shown, but they place one con- 
siderably larger in front of the altar on the saint’s 


170 


PACIFIC SHORES 


day. Yoritimo, in the twelfth century, gave the tem- 
ple ninety acres of arable land; but four hundred 
years later one of his successors found the edifice in 
ruins, and the priests living in disorder and vice. 

Though there was much more to be seen in Tokyo, 
the fourth party decided that they had seen enough 
of it, and they returned to the hotel. 

O 1 

3 




A GREAT CHANGE IN THE TRAVEL ROUTE 171 


CHAPTER XYII 

A GREAT CHANGE IN THE TRAVEL ROUTE 

The other three parties were about as tired of 
sight-seeing as the fourth. Some of the tourists 
thought they had already been all over the world. 
They had gone through a considerable portion of 
the West Indies, had visited some of the important 
islands of the Atlantic, had travelled in the countries 
of Europe usually taken in by Americans, had seen 
Morocco, Algiers, and Egypt in Africa, been across 
India, traversed the Malay Peninsula, obtained a 
specimen of Burma and Siam, as well as French 
Cochin-China, explored portions of China, had 
“done” Yokohama and Tokyo, and intended to see 
the more southern portion of Japan. They had ac- 
complished all that the commander had proposed. 

“Backing out” was something which the travel- 
lers could hardly think of j and they were not quite 
willing to admit that they were tired of sight-seeing, 
and were inclined to call their feeling on the subject 
by some other name. They felt as though they had 
exhausted the programme, and that there was but 
little more than Australia they cared to visit. Mr. 
Psi-ning came to dinner with the party, and so did 
Major Yoshikawa and Captain Kondo ; and the situa- 


172 


PACIFIC SHORES 


tion was talked over by the company. Some of the 
tourists could not help admitting that they could see 
but little before them in the trip round the world 
to which they looked forward with anything like the 
pleasure they had experienced during the first year 
of the tour. 

“ To use a homely American expression,” said the 
Mandarin, “ I think you are biting off more than you 
can swallow. Most travellers who come to Tokyo 
believe that it requires at least three weeks to see 
the city properly, and some desire more ; but you are 
disposing of the capital of Japan in two or three 
days, and you have been at work like truck-horses. 
Now you are tired out, and if you would only say 
what you feel, you would express yourselves as dis- 
gusted with seeing the world ; at least, I am afraid 
this would be the opinion of some of you. Excuse 
me if I have spoken too bluntly, but I had begun to 
think in this way when we met in China. You 
worked very hard then ; but you are all very cheer- 
ful, not to say jolly, and that state of mind has 
helped you out wonderfully.” 

“ As we are not archaeologists, antiquarians, or sci- 
entific persons, though we have all been students in 
a mild way, it has not been my purpose, for I am 
responsible for all the arrangements of the party, to 
exhaust any of the cities or countries we visited,” said 
the commander, who seemed to be in a very pleasant 
humor. “ I have stated from the first, and my 
fellow-voyagers will say that I have said it a great 


A GREAT CHANGE IN THE TRAVEL ROUTE 173 

many times, that we could only obtain a specimen of 
each country we visited. If we spent three weeks 
in the capital of Japan, with corresponding time in 
Kobe, Kyoto, Osaka, and other important cities, my 
plan would be utterly wrecked.” 

“ Why wrecked ? ” inquired Major Yosliikawa. 

“It is now about the middle of June; and if I 
carried out the plan suggested, we could not leave 
Nagasaki till September. To say nothing of getting 
mixed up with the typhoons of the China Sea and 
the Pacific Ocean about that time and later, we 
should arrive in Australia as the winter is coming 
on. It is a long voyage ” — 

“ I think most if not all of us enjoy our life at 
sea quite as much as that on the land, when we are 
working so hard at sight-seeing,” interrupted Mrs. 
Belgrave. 

“ I was going to say that I am obliged to regulate 
all our visits to the various countries by the seasons 
to a considerable extent. I have been in Japan in 
January, and it was cold then. This party would 
have been almost helpless in that month; for I was 
nearly frozen in the fierce north winds, and could not 
stand it more than an hour in a rickshaw.” 

“ I see, Captain Ringgold, that you have been 
obliged to adapt your movements to the circum- 
stances, and I don’t think anybody could have ar- 
ranged them more wisely,” added the Mandarin. 

“ But I am not so hard upon my passengers as you 
seem to believe, for I have laid out nothing for them 


174 


PACIFIC SHOPES 


to-morrow, though each party may go where they 
choose, or rest in the hotel ; and they may rest the 
remainder of the week in Yokohama/’ added the 
commander. 

“ I did not mean to suggest that you persecuted 
them,” replied Mr. Psi-ning, laughing. 

This conversation led to much more on the same 
subject. Mrs. Belgrave was even willing to admit, 
with many feminine dodges, that she was a trifle 
homesick ; fqr a new house had been built for her, 
and she had never even seen it, though a recent letter 
from Squire Sanger, who attended to the affairs of 
Uncle Moses during his absence, informed the trustee 
that the house was completed, and wished to know if 
he should furnish it. 

“ Then, I think we had better knock off six months 
or a year from the end of our voyage, and work upon 
a new programme,” interposed the captain, who was 
one of the little group to which Mrs. Belgrave had 
slightly unburdened her mind. 

“ I hope you will, Captain Binggold ; for if we 
stay away from home much longer we shall all be- 
come heathen or Hottentots,” added Mrs. Belgrave^ 
from whom the ladies were very liable to take their 
cue. 

“ I had a letter which had been waiting for my 
arrival at Yokohama containing very important news 
to me, and involving one-half at least of all the 
property I have in the world ; and I find it neces- 
sary for me to be in New York sooner than I had 


A GREAT CHANGE IN THE TRAVEL ROUTE 175 

anticipated when we left home,” said the commander, 
taking the letter from his pocket. 

“ I think we had better have a meeting of the 
whole party at once, and examine the situation,” 
suggested Mrs. Belgrave, after the guests had de- 
parted. “We will look over the programme as it 
stands now, and make a new one if the occasion 
requires it.” 

This was considered a wise and prudent thing to 
do, and the tourists were called together for the pur- 
pose. The captain made a general explanation of 
the situation, intimating that some of the party were 
rather tired of so much sight-seeing, and others had 
business which called them home before the Guard- 
ian-Mother could reach New York, if the original 
programme was carried out. 

“ What was the original programme ? ” asked Mr. 
Wool ridge. 

“ You and your family have been through one half 
of it, for we are more than half round the world. 
From Japan we were to go to Australia, taking a 
south-southeast course from Nagasaki across the 
equator, through about forty degrees of latitude, 
passing near the Loo Choo Islands, and through the 
Carolines to a channel between New Guinea and 
New Britain ; then to the southward of the former 
island, and south to Brisbane, when I think you will 
be ready to spend a day or two in port. Then we 
shall proceed to Sydney, where we will spend the 
most of our time in Australia. From there we were 


176 


PACIFfC SHORES 


to cross over to Auckland in New Zealand, getting 
a specimen of that island. Next, from the last port 
to the Sandwich Islands, taking in the Fiji Islands 
and Samoa on the way. 

“I do not propose to vary this part of the pro- 
gramme, but to omit all the rest of it, which in- 
cluded all the west and the east coast of South 
America, including Quito, Guayaquil, Lima, Valpa- 
raiso, through the Strait of Magellan, Buenos Ayres, 
Bio Janeiro, Para, Paramaribo, the Windward and 
Leeward Islands of the West In*dies.” 

“We shall not live long enough to do all that!” 
protested Mrs. Belgrave. 

“Then, we will omit all after the Sandwich 
Islands ; though we shall have occasion to put in at 
Valparaiso and some other places for supplies,” said 
the commander. “If there is any objection to this 
last arrangement please to make it known.” 

No one made any objection. On the contrary, 
when the captain appealed to each person individu- 
ally, they all liked the plan better than the old one ; 
for the professor desired to get back to his family, 
the surgeon to his practice, for both of them were 
new men physically, and Mr. Woolridge thought he 
should prefer to take the rest of the trip at some 
other time. It was finally settled. 

“When do you think we shall get home, Captain 
Binggold ? ” asked Mrs. Belgrave. 

“ I believe you will spend Christmas in your new 
house, Mrs. Belgrave.” 


A GREAT CHANGE IN THE TRAVEL ROUTE 177 

“ Then, I shall enjoy what is still before us twice 
as much, as if I knew we had two years more to 
travel,” added the first lady. 

u I suppose the ‘ Big Four 9 will not like the new 
arrangement,” suggested the commander. 

“ I shall,” replied Scott ; “ for I want to get into 
some settled business. I intend to go to sea, and I 
wish to find a position.” 

“ I shall see that you have a good place on board 
of a good ship, Scott, and you need not worry about 
the future. It was my purpose to retain the com- 
mand of the Guardian-Mother till we reached the 
Sandwich Islands, and there, under the old pro- 
gramme, I should have been compelled to resign, 
and recommend Mr. Boulong as my successor, the 
other two mates moving up one peg ; but the new 
arrangement permits me to continue in my present 
position till we arrive at New York.” 

All the party, including the ladies, joined in a 
burst of rapturous applause, and the commander 
bowed his thanks. The business of the evening was 
concluded, though several groups had more to say 
among themselves. The boys were entirely satisfied 
to escape any more sight-seeing, as they put it, and 
all retired at an early hour. The next morning the 
subject was talked about by all. The day was to 
be spent as the several parties desired, and each of 
them had something in view. As soon as Machida 
appeared in the morning, the boys told him they 
wanted a pilot for the Sumida-Gawa River, which 


178 


PACIFIC SHORES 


they had agreed to explore after they went to their 
room the night before. Louis had already been to 
Shimbashi, and ordered Felipe Garcias, the engineer, 
to have steam up by nine o’clock. 

“ I don’t think you will greatly enjoy your trip up 
the river, for it is a dirty, muddy stream,” said 
Machida, when he returned with the information 
that he had engaged the pilot. 

“ We can see the country as well from a muddy 
stream as from a clear one, and we go through a 
mile or two of the city on our way up,” replied 
Louis. “We will leave Shimbashi at about eleven.” 

“ But the pilot can bring the boat up to the Club 
Hotel, and you can go on board there ; and it will be 
a better place, especially if any ladies go with you,” 
added the guide. 

“ Have the boat at the Club Hotel then, and we 
will be there at the time stated,” replied Louis ; and 
the guide hastened to the pier where the Blanchita 
was moored. 

Louis had extended an invitation to the entire 
party to join in the excursion ; but most of them 
had other plans arranged, and of the ladies only 
Miss Blanche and Mrs. Blossom accepted the invita- 
tion, with Morris and the professor. The rest of the 
company soon left the hotel with their guides ; most 
of them intended to visit the dry-goods stores and 
curio shops in Naha-dori. Shimidzu fitted out the 
boat party with rickshaws, and directed the motor- 
men where to go, paying them in advance. 


A GREAT CHANGE IN THE TRAVEL ROUTE 179 

The Blanchita had not yet arrived ; and the party 
looked over the Club Hotel, near the landing, and 
thought it was good enough for the ordinary trav- 
eller. But they had not long to wait for the boat; 
and she came up to some landing-steps, where the 
ladies coulcl easily embark. The pilot spoke English, 
and knew all about the bells. He was immensely 
pleased with the boat, and said a great deal about it. 
He rang the gong, and the boat started. The water 
was certainly dirty and muddy, and doubtless much 
of the filth of a great city of over a million inhabi- 
tants was mingled with it. 

Machida pointed out the various buildings as they 
proceeded, but his auditors were not much interested 
in them. The quarter on their right, he said, was 
Fukagawa, which was a maze of narrow streets, oc- 
cupied by the lower trading and working classes, and 
contained nothing to attract the attention of the 
stranger. They passed several bridges, one of which 
was the largest in the city, where many were neces- 
sary over the numerous canals, as well as the river. 

“ This is the northern end of the great canal which 
forms a half-circle through the centre of the city,” 
said the guide after they had passed the great bridge. 
“On our right is the quarter Honjo. Near here, in 
Midori-cho, is a temple ” — 

“ Don’t say anything more about it, Machida,” 
protested Captain Scott, who was in command of the 
Blanchita as usual. 

“ I was only going to tell you what is in it, and 


180 


PACIFIC SHORES 


not to take you to it,” laughed the guide. “ It might 
amuse you.” 

“ What is in it, then ? ” asked Miss Blanche ; and 
of course there was no protest after she spoke. 

“ It contains the painted images of the 1 Five Hun- 
dred Rakan ; ’ and they are so lifelike that some peo- 
ple think they are still alive, but they are not.” 

“ I should like to see them,” said Felix. 

“ But I am happy to say that you cannot ; for you 
would have to walk over a mile, for there are no 
rickshaws up here,” replied the guide, laughing 
heartily. 

“ But what are Rakan ? ” inquired Mrs. Blossom. 

“ They were perfected holy men, and were the five 
hundred disciples of Buddha. They are one of the 
most popular subjects of Japanese artists.” 

“ We are willing to let them rest in their temple,” 
said Scott. 

“Now we are abreast of Asakusa Park, one of the 
three most noted in the city. If you wish to visit it, 
you will have but a short walk.” 

“No; we will go on, and see what this river is 
like,” replied Louis. 

“ Jt is just like what you see here all the way up, 
without a town on its shores, though you come within 
walking distance of Oji, a very pretty village on the 
railroad ; but you will see scores of just such in your 
trip to the south,” added Machida; and they found 
that he was right, for there was nothing worth seeing 
on the river. 


A GREAT CHANGE IN THE TRAVEL ROUTE 181 

A few miles more were all they wanted of it. The 
pilot was told to come about, and the party landed at 
the Club Hotel before noon. On their return to the 
Imperial they found the rest of the party all ready to 
leave for Yokohama, for the commander wished them 
to visit the Temple of Ikegami on account of what 
a Japanese gentleman had said to him about it. 
Located in the country, and on the banks of a stream, 
he thought the excursion would please them. Matsu 
had been sent forward to prepare the way, and se- 
cure the rickshaws ; for it was a mile from Omori, on 
the railroad. The river company promptly decided 
to join them. 


182 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XVIII 

A VISIT TO IKEGAMI AND SOME FISHING 

The short stay at Tokyo had required the com- 
pany to bring only hand-bags, so that the baggage was 
soon ready for transportation, and was sent by a wagon 
to the station. This vehicle was seldom used except 
for heavy merchandise ; for various contrivances took 
its place, such as a pole with a basket slung at either 
end. The draft horses were poor beasts, led by a 
coolie with a rope about six feet in length ; and he 
appeared to be dragging the animal after him. The 
American check system is used by the railroads, 
and not the English method of pasting a label on 
the article. The guides soon had the bags placed in 
a car, and the company took their places in the com- 
partments. 

They had parted with Mr. Psi-ning and the mili- 
tary officers the evening before after dinner, as they 
were all to be busy the next day about their usual 
duties. The pilot was instructed to take the Blanch- 
ita to the nearest landing-place, to Omori ; for the dis- 
tance was less than a mile, and the boys would go on 
board there. The train soon moved off ; and as the 
distance was only six miles, the party reached their 
destination in a few minutes. Matsu had gathered 


A VISIT TO IKEGAMI AND SOME FISHING 183 

up all the rickshaws in the vicinity, and there were 
enough of them. The ride in the country was pleas- 
ant; and they enjoyed it very much, vastly more 
than through the streets of the city. Part of the 
way was along the banks of a stream, and Machida 
told them that much of their travel going to the 
south would be like this. In half an hour they 
were at the entrance to the enclosure in which the 
temple and its appendages were located. 

The party alighted in front of a stile, or steps over 
a stone wall. Matsu was present, and had announced 
the coming of the Americans. A bozu was ready to 
act as their guide through the premises, and it was 
found that he spoke English fluently. The ladies 
were assisted over the wall, and passed between two 
stone lanterns, of which quite a number were to be 
seen in front of the buildings in sight, offerings of 
devout persons to the Sammon, or two-storied gate, 
at the entrance. In this building they paused while 
the bozu gave them some account of the origin and 
history of the establishment, of which only the sub- 
stance can be given. 

The great temple of Hommonji is celebrated and 
revered as the place where the Buddhist saint Ni- 
chiren died in the year 1282, and festivals in his 
honor are held here twice every year. He was born 
in 1222, and at the age of twelve became a convert to 
a Buddhist sect, and at eighteen was admitted to the 
priesthood. He appears to modern understanding to 
have been a bigot and a fanatic ; for he denounced in 


184 


PACIFIC SHORES 


the most relentless manner all other sects, for which 
the regent banished him to the peninsula of Izu, but 
he was soon .pardoned. Ten years later his enemies 
convinced another regent that his doctrines tended to 
subvert the state ; he was taken and thrown into a 
cave with his six principal disciples, and condemned 
to be beheaded the same night. When brought to 
the place of execution he was saved by a miracle, the 
sword refusing to cut off the head of a man so holy. 
Warned in a dream, the regent spared his life, but 
banished him to an island in the north. 

In 1274 he was permitted to return to Kamakura, 
then the military capital of Eastern Japan. Next 
he retired to the mountains, and lived a hermit’s life. 
Then he went to live with the lord of the manor, who 
was a devotee so zealous that he gave to Nichiren 
and his sect all the lands he possessed. Crowds of 
disciples gathered around the saint for instruction in 
his doctrines ; and he set up a small shrine, which is 
now the famous monastery of Minobu, to which thou- 
sands of the faithful and many strangers resort at 
the present time. In 1282, though he was only sixty 
years old, feeling that he was soon to die, he removed 
to Ikegami, and died there. His body was burned on 
the spot ; and most of his bones were conveyed to 
Minobu, which is under the shadow of the Holy 
Mountain, Fuji, a small portion of them being re- 
tained for relics where he died. Though the bozu 
did not say so, his spiritual children appear to have 
inherited his bigotry and intolerance, which are not 


A VISIT TO IKEGAMI AND SOME FISHING 185 

generally prevalent in Japan. The outward symbol 
of this sect is the drum, though probably the Salva- 
tion Army of the present day do not imitate the sect 
in its use. 

The commander bowed to the bozu , and thanked 
him in behalf of his associates for his instructive 
address, and all the party bowed to him. The gate- 
way building was constructed in Japanese style, as 
were all the other edifices within the enclosure, with 
an overhanging roof, often slightly concaved. All of 
them had porticos and piazzas, and they did not look 
very different from many cottages we see in the 
suburbs of most of our cities. The party passed out 
at the rear of the building, and halted at a minute 
copy of the other structures, in which there was a 
large trough filled with water. 

“ When we worship before Buddha, we must do so 
with clean hands, and this is where we wash them,” 
said the bozu , as he led the way to a queer-shaped 
structure. “This is the drum tower; for we use this 
instrument a great deal for several purposes, and 
especially to keep the time when intoning the key 
sentence of our faith. The pagoda is such as you 
have seen before in your travels in this country ; and 
it has bells at the corners of each story, which are 
rung by the wind when there is any.” 

The priestly conductor then led the party to a 
walk ending at the main temple. Of course the bozu 
knew that he was talking to Christians, and that he 
was “ casting pearls before swine.” He did not talk 


186 


PACIFIC SHORES 


as he would to a company of the faithful children 
of Buddha. 

“This is the Founder’s Hall,” said he, as they 
entered the building. “It has recently been re- 
stored, for it has been over seven hundred years in 
existence. It has been done in a beautiful manner, 
with the contributions of the followers of our sect, 
which proves that it is still very popular among the 
people. On the altar this exquisitely lacquered 
shrine holds the image of Nichiren, as large as life, 
in a sitting position, carved by one of his chief 
disciples.” 

The wall was decorated with paintings of angels 
performing on musical instruments. Behind the 
altar is the life of the saint in pictorial illustrations. 
The visitors were not much interested, though they 
looked at everything indicated out of respect to the 
bozu, They then passed out, and were conducted to 
the main temple, which is smaller than the one spe- 
cially devoted to the patron saint. In front of both 
of them there were several stone lanterns, gifts of 
devotees, which might have been used to give light, 
or might not ; at any rate, they did not seem to be 
adapted to the purpose. The interior was similar 
to those they had often seen before, though the 
priest enlarged upon all that was to be seen. 

From this structure the party was led to the 
Taho-to, the pagoda-shaped reliquary containing the 
relics of the founder. They were not to be seen, 
especially by Christians, who are the same as heathen 


A VISIT TO IKEGAMI AND SOME FISHING 187 

to the Buddhists. The commander then pointed to 
a cluster of buildings in the rear of the enclosure, 
and learned that one was the priests* apartments, 
with a reception-room in front of them. One was 
the kitchen ; and in the rear of all, surrounded by a 
fence, was the treasure-house. The bozu then con- 
ducted them to the Rinzo, which is a revolving 
library, containing a complete copy of the Buddhist 
canon, or scriptures. They had seen one like it at 
another temple ; and as no one could have time to 
read the whole of them, turning the revolving case 
several times was a religious act which was carried 
to the credit of the person doing so. 

If the visitors had not seen everything in the 
place, they had seen enough, and would have escaped 
before if they could have done so without disrespect 
to the venerable and learned priest. The commander 
made a liberal gift to him as they reached the stile, 
for which he bowed very low, with his hands upon 
his knees, seeming to be very much pleased ; and 
possibly he thought at that moment that Christians 
were not such abominable heathen as they might 
have been if the gift had been small. 

The surroundings of the monastery were very beau- 
tiful, the enclosure bordering upon a sheet of water. 
They wandered into the woods while Matsu was 
bringing up the rickshaws. They came upon an or- 
chard of beautiful plum-trees, and then a garden of 
peonies, and the elevation afforded a beautiful view of 
the surrounding region. An immense tea-house was 


188 


PACIFIC SHORES 


to be seen, which seemed to be engaged in a circus 
performance ; for it extended up and down two hills, 
with bridges and galleries, which reminded the ob- 
servers of some Chinese effects they had seen. 

“ Shimidzu, we will all go to Yokohama by the 
boat,” said the commander, when the conveyances 
were all ready for them. “Mr. Belgrave, is there 
room enough for all of us in the Blanchita ? ” 

“ Certainly there is ; for all the party, with several 
invited guests, have made some long excursions in 
her,” replied Louis. 

The party took their places in the rickshaws, and 
in half an hour they were on the shore of the bay. 
The pilot had chosen a very good place for the em- 
barkation ; and the ladies were handed on board, tak- 
ing their places, as requested by Captain Scott, in 
the standing-room, where the seats were handsomely 
cushioned, for the place was made into a cabin when 
the occasion required. The ship’s company cheered 
the ladies and gentlemen as they came on board, 
simply because they were glad to see them ; for the 
passengers had not been on board, except the boys, 
since they landed on their arrival. The pilot said 
the distance was about fourteen miles, and they were 
landed at the pier in Yokohama in less than two 
hours. 

As Captain Binggold had arranged, the party 
rested till Monday morning at the Grand Hotel. 
They were the recipients of some attentions from 
residents, and seemed to be in danger of falling into 


A VISIT TO IKEGAMI AND SOME FISHING 189 

the “ social swim/’ Some of them went to the 
theatre, to wrestling exhibitions ; for that is a na- 
tional sport, and there are many professionals in that 
line. A few of the party had seen Japanese wrestlers 
at the music-halls in London ; but most of them re- 
garded it as a brutal exhibition, and did not enjoy it. 

“ I mentioned the wrestling exhibitions to the 
party with me in Tokyo,” said Machida, when the 
whole company were assembled in the drawing-room 
to hear him tell some incidents of Japanese history, 
“but none of them cared to see it. I can give you 
a historical incident which may seem odd to you. 
When I was taking a gentleman to a temple in Eko, 
in Tokyo, he asked me the use of a tall scaffold near 
the temple. It was the drum-tower erected for the 
use of the wrestlers, for the drubbing of the drum 
may be heard when there is to be an exhibition. He 
thought it was very strange that it should be so near 
the temple. I told him the story I will now relate to 
you. 

“ In 1657 a terrible fire raged in the capital, and 
over a hundred thousand persons lost their lives by 
being burned to death or from exposure. The bodies 
were in such condition that they could not be identi- 
fied by their friends, and to prevent a pestilence they 
had to be buried by the government. The work was 
done by the pariahs, not the same as in India, but 
butchers, tanners, and assistants at executions, and 
the victims were buried in one enormous pit. 

“ It was not considered proper to inter them with- 


190 


PACIFIC SHORES 


out any religious ceremonies. Funeral services could 
not be performed ; but several priests from each 
Buddhist temple were required to repair to the great 
mound over the buried victims, and recite prayers for 
seven days. The Temple of Helplessness was built 
on the spot by the Jo-do sect. But no one knew 
whether his father and mother, his brother and sister, 
were buried there or not ; and therefore there were no 
gifts of relatives to support the temple, and the sect 
was too poor to pay the expense. Something had to 
be done for the priests ; and the government gave 
them permission to establish wrestling-matches, and 
to give exhibitions twice a year for the benefit of the 
temple. The wrestlers may be regarded as a national 
institution, for there is high authority for the sport 
in history.” 

“ That is a very good yarn, Mr. Machida,” said the 
commander when the guide took his seat. 

“ But it is a true one, sir.” 

“ Perhaps it is ; but can you tell me why the 
wrestlers are all fat men ? ” 

“ Because they live well and have an easy time of 
it. They have always eaten meat, because it makes 
them strong and courageous, and not every man in 
Japan can afford to do so. But they are not very 
particular about the kind of meat they consume, and 
do not insist upon rump or tenderloin steaks. They 
eat foxes, badgers, wolves, bears, monkeys, rabbits, 
and such animals.” 

The “ Big Four ” used these spare days in excur- 


A VISIT TO IKEGAMI AND SOME FISHING 191 

sions in the Blanchita, and sometimes turned them 
into fishing-trips. The launch had been provided 
with lines ; and the pilot, who was called upon when 
needed, obtained the bait. They went outside of the 
bay, anchoring the boat at the place indicated by the 
pilot. Not only the boys, but the crew, engaged in 
the sport. Louis was the first one to bring up his 
fish, and it proved to be an eel. 

“ A ham ! ” exclaimed the pilot. 

“ A what ? ” demanded Louis. 

“ Ham is what we call that fish in Japan ; and it 
is regarded as very nice eating,” protested the pilot. 
“ It is thought to be a very great delicacy in the res- 
taurants of the capital.” 

“ What do you call it, Mr. Belgrave ? ” asked 
Machida, who agreed with the pilot as to the name in 
Japan. 

“ I should call it a conger eel, and that is the 
name of it in England.” 

“ What have I got here ? ” cried Morris, as he 
drew in a fish about the shape of an egg. 

“ That is a hari-fugo 99 replied the pilot. “ Look 
out for him, for he is an ugly fish to handle. He is 
covered all over with sharp little bones, and when he 
swells himself up they all stick out.” 

“ I have seen that fellow before,” said Morris. 
“ Sometimes he is called the balloon-fish, because of 
his shape, and because he can inflate himself. He is 
also called the striped spinebelly. I don’t want any- 
thing to do with him.” 


192 


PACIFfC SHORES 


The pilot knew how to take the wind out of him, 
and disposed of him. Plenty of sole were caught, 
and three parrot-fishes. After a couple of hours 
they had all they wanted, and returned to the bay. 
The men took what they desired, and there were still 
over fifty left, mostly sole and conger eels. It was 
decided to give them to the hotel if the manager 
wanted them ; if not, to the rickshaw men in the 
vicinity. The launch went up to the Bund, in front 
of the Grand Hotel ; and Morris was sent up to see 
if Mr. Eppinger wanted the fish, or any of them. He 
did want them all, and sent men to carry them up to 
the kitchen. The launch went to the ship, and the 
boys to the hotel. 



Louis was the first to bring up his fish 


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THE GIGANTIC IMAGE OF BUDDHA 




CHAPTER XIX 

THE GIGANTIC IMAGE OF BUDDHA 

On Monday morning at an early hour the party at 
the hotel were in readiness to take the train at ten 
minutes before seven o’clock ; for the boys had gone 
on board the ship with Machida and the pilot the 
night before, prepared to sail at six the next morning 
for Kamakura. The Rajah had been troubled with 
an attack of rheumatism, not severe, but so trouble- 
some that he was not disposed to go on shore when 
the ship arrived at Yokohama, and he had been at 
this city and Tokyo before. He did not call him- 
self sick, but he preferred to remain on board of the 
Blanche ; and his native servant, who understood him 
and his malady better than any other person, had 
been with him all the time. 

He had been visited about every day by his daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Noury, and Dr. Henderson ; and the general 
had gone with them several times. On Sunday when 
they went off to see him they had found him much 
better, in fact, as well as usual; and he had gone on 
shore with them, ready to join in the excursion to the 
south, which he had never visited. He was to take 
the place of Morris in Muto’s party, and was there- 
fore to be with his daughter and her husband. 


194 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Shimidzu had arranged all the details of the excur- 
sion as chief guide, and when the train came in from 
the capital his party were all at the station. The 
route was near the Tokaido, and there was much to 
be seen from the windows of the compartments. 
Miss Blanche was exceedingly fond of sailing in the 
launch ; and after much teasing of her father and 
mother she had been permitted to travel with the 
“ Big Four ” provided Mrs. Blossom also went with 
them ; and the commander had put the good woman 
in the party with her at the first for the sake of pro- 
priety. “ Aunty ” was very willing to be the duenna, 
as she regarded it, of the beautiful girl, especially as 
she would also have the company of Felix. They 
had gone on board of the Guardian-Mother the night 
before. 

The train passed through several small towns, and 
they had to change cars at Ofuna. In about an hour 
they reached their destination, where there were 
plenty of rickshaws ; and they proceeded at once to 
the Marine Sanatorium, situated in a pine grove 
near the seashore. It was a most delightful place, 
and the party was very much pleased with it. The 
location was on the peninsula which bounds the 
southern portion of the Gulf of Tokyo on the west. 
The Blanchita had not yet arrived. 

Sparks, the principal cabin steward of the ship, 
had called the passengers of the launch at five o’clock, 
and half an hour later they sat down to a light break- 
fast , for they expected to join the party at the first 


THE GIGANTIC IMAGE OF BUDDHA 195 

meal of the day at Kamakura. They had what they 
did not always find at the hotels on shore, excellent 
coffee ; for Japan is a tea-drinking nation, and that is 
the beverage in the morning as well as many times 
during the day. 

“ Good-morning, Miss Blanche. I am glad to see 
you looking so bright and happy at this early hour,” 
said Louis as he bowed to the fair maiden. “We 
have a beautiful day and a smooth sea for our trip.” 

“ I don’t care very much for quiet water now, for 
I am never seasick j but it will make it pleasanter, 
for I suppose you will go pretty near the shore,” re- 
plied Blanche. 

“ I have told the pilot to take us as near as it is 
prudent to go. I suppose you have looked over the 
maps, and know something about the peninsula ? ” 

“ I have looked over the map in Murray ; but I 
could not make anything of it. I did not know I 
was to sail around this peninsula, and T did not 
study it attentively,” replied Blanche. “ How far 
is it around to the place we are bound ? ” 

“ I am sure I don’t know, for I have not applied 
the scale to it. How far is it, pilot ? ” Louis 
asked. 

“ Keeping in shore, as you have ordered me to do, 
it is all of forty-five miles,” answered the pilot, who 
was quite a gentlemanly appearing person, and had 
been invited to the cabin table with the party. 

“ Whew ! ” exclaimed the young millionaire, taking 
his watch from his pocket. “I have made a bad 


196 


PACIFIC SHORES 


blunder ; for Shimidzu told me the party would leave 
the Sanatorium at nine o’clock to see the sights of 
the place. It is now quarter of six, and we cannot 
get to the place till eleven or later. What shall 
we do, Machida ? ” 

“ I can get you to the Sanatorium by eight o’clock,” 
replied the guide. 

“ How can you do that ? ” 

“ Of course we cannot go around by water ; but we 
will make a landing at Yokosuka, which will reduce 
our trip by water to not more than a dozen miles,” 
Machida explained. “ There we take a train at half- 
past seven, and reach Kamakura in twenty minutes.” 

“ Then we must go that way ; for this is the 
Daibutzu day, and we had better see it with the 
party, though I am sorry to lose the sail around 
the peninsula ; but we can get that some other time.” 

“We have spoken our final adieu to Yokohama, 
and we do not go back there again,” said Scott. 
“We are really on our way to Australia now.” 

“Well, we will make a trip around to Uraga, 
where Commodore Perry went.” 

“ But we must be in a hurry ; for we have only an 
hour and a half to make the twelve miles to Ochoke- 
mekuru, for I have forgotten the name of the place 
so quick,” added Louis. 

“ The Blanchita will do it easy in that time,” said 
Captain Scott. 

The party hastened on board of the launch, and it 
was not quite six when she cast off the fasts. The 


THE GIGANTIC IMAGE OF BUDDHA 19T 


captain went to the engineer, and the rattling of coal 
in the fire-room was soon heard. The launch passed 
Treaty Point, and then her course was nearly south. 
Very soon the boat began to shake; and Scott de- 
clared that she was making nine knots an hour, 
which was better than nine miles. 

“ Is the station far from the landing-place ? ” 
asked the captain. 

“ Not more than five minutes’ walk,” replied 
Machida. 

“Then we are all right, and you need not worry 
about time, Louis.” 

“ This is Mississippi Bay on the right,” said the 
guide. “ The shores of it are very pretty, and you 
ought to have ridden over there.” 

“ We did not expect to take in everything there is 
in Japan, and our company are tired of sight-seeing,” 
added Louis. “We have done a year and a half of 
it, taking out the time we have been at sea.” 

The Blanchita continued to cleave the placid 
waters till she passed between a cape at the end of a 
headland a mile in length, and an island, and then 
she was in a landlocked bay. 

“ One mile more ; what time is it now, Mr. Bel- 
grave ? ” asked the pilot. 

“ Ten minutes past seven,” replied Louis. 

“Felipe has driven that machine, and the differ- 
ence between miles and knots has given us time to 
spare ; the distance is about ten knots, and we have 
been making more than nine,” said the captain. 


198 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ There is a dockyard here, and it is quite a busy 
place now. Here lived and died Will Adams, the 
first Englishman that ever came to Japan. I will 
tell you about him when we have more time,” said 
Machida, as the boat came up to a landing-place. 

The party jumped ashore in a hurry, and mounted 
the rickshaws in waiting. The guide hurried them 
by the promise of a perquisite, and they were seated 
in a car five minutes before the time for starting. 
Machida paid all the expenses, and presented his 
account every evening. He had the tickets ; and the 
train moved off on time, and arrived at Kamakura at 
ten minutes before eight. Taking rickshaws, they 
were at the Sanatorium at eight, just as the party 
were going in to breakfast. 

“ Where did you come from ? ” demanded the com- 
mander, as the water section presented themselves at 
the entrance of the hotel. “We have been looking 
down the bay for the launch, but we have not seen 
her.” 

“ I made a bad blunder ; and when I had time to 
look the matter over, I found we could not get here 
before eleven o’clock, too late to join your party to 
the Daibutzu. We changed the plan, and came only 
to Yokosuka by water, and the rest of the way by 
railroad,” Louis explained. 

“ But where is the launch ? ” 

“ She is coming round in charge of the pilot, and 
will be here about noon.” 

“Very well; I am glad you got here in season to 


THE GIGANTIC IMAGE OF BUDDHA 199 


go with us,” replied Captain Ringgold as he led the 
way to the dining-room. 

The hotel was for foreigners, and the breakfast 
proved to be excellent. One dish that pleased Louis 
was broiled eels, and he was satisfied that they were 
congers. He recommended them so highly that most 
of the party partook of them. Raw fish is a Japanese 
dish ; but it was provided at this hotel, and some of 
the Americans had the courage to try it, Scott among 
the number, and he declared that with the sauce it 
was a real delicacy. The obsequious landlord, who 
was a native, but he proved that he “knew how to 
keep a hotel,” was praised for his table ; and he put 
his hands upon his knees, bowed low, and drew in 
his breath in acknowledgment of the compliment. 

“ I thought he was going to swallow the captain,” 
said Miss Blanche. “ Why did he draw in his 
breath ? ” 

“ I don’t know j but here is Machida ; ” to whom 
the question was put. 

“ That is a sign of respect and deference,” replied 
the guide. “It is not much used now, since Japan 
has been Europeanized ; but the landlord is a man 
of sixty, and he has not yet got rid of his old ways.” 

“ We have twenty minutes to spare before we go 
out,” said the commander, as the company seated 
themselves in a reception-room, whose windows 
looked out on the bay. “ If you have anything to 
tell us, Shimidzu, about this town, we will hear you 


now. 


200 


PACIFIC SHORES 


The chief guide bowed, and took a position in front 
of the party. He was a very bright fellow ; and his 
English was good, though he was not quite so fluent 
as Machida, who had resided some months in New 
York. He was handsomely applauded by his au- 
dience, with whom he had become a great favorite, as 
he was with every party he conducted ; and the 
author knows him from personal experience, and also 
met Machida in Tokyo. The chief guide was a 
modest man ; and he blushed when the applause was 
bestowed upon him, for which he thanked the Amer- 
icans with his hand on his heart. 

“ Kamakura was once the populous capital of 
Eastern Japan, and then extended all over the plain 
and beyond it,” the speaker began. “ Yoritomo, who 
established the Shogunate in 1192, selected this local- 
ity as his capital ; and it was such from the end of 
the twelfth to the middle of the fifteenth century. 
In its best days its population is said to have ex- 
ceeded a million, but I suppose there is some doubt 
about it. Now it has fallen into a seaside village, 
but is a favorite health resort for the people of Yoko- 
hama. It was here that Kublai Khan of the Mogul 
Empire sent his embassadors, who in his name im- 
periously demanded the submission of Japan to his 
sway. The summons was regarded as an insult, and 
the envoys were here beheaded on the seashore. 

“ On the other side of the bay is the city of Oda- 
wara, which became the next place in importance to 
the capital under the Ho jo family, which was very 


THE GIGANTIC IMAGE OF BUDDHA 201 

rich and powerful ; but it lost its wealth and influ- 
ence, as well as its population, when Yedo became 
the capital, nearly two hundred years ago. The ob- 
jects of interest here are the temple of Hachiman, 
the Daibutzu, and the great image of Kwannon, the 
goddess of mercy. It is nine o’clock, and time for us 
to go out, if we are to finish this place by noon.” 

About one half of the party preferred to walk, as 
the route was up a hill by an avenue flanked with 
pine-trees. The ancient glories of the avenue and 
the temple have faded away in the decay of the ages. 
At the end of the shaded road is a long flight of 
stairs, at the head of which are the three stone torii 
at the entrance to the temple. The guides pointed 
out the magnificent icho- tree, whose leaves become 
golden in the autumn. Its trunk is about twenty 
feet in circumference, and the tree is said to be over 
a thousand years old. 

Passing by the various shrines, images, and the 
relics of Yoritomo, the party came into the presence 
of the Daibutzu, seated in silent and solemn majesty 
on a throne, as it were. It is said to stand alone 
among Japanese works of art. “ Ho other gives such 
an impression of majesty, or so truly symbolizes the 
central idea of Buddhism, — the intellectual calm 
which comes of perfected knowledge and the subjuga- 
tion of all passion.” The books tell us it must be 
seen many times to be appreciated. While some of 
the American party, seeing it once, were able to com- 
prehend the artistic grandeur of the figure and its ex- 


202 


PACIFIC SHOPES 


pression, others thought it was overrated, and it was 
only the vastness of the statue that impressed them. 

“ There is another figure older than this one at 
Nara,” said Shimidzu, as the party gathered around 
him. “ There has been a temple in this place since 
the eighth century ; but the image is of much later 
date, and its precise history is unknown. But the 
story is, that Ycritomo, attending the dedication of 
the one at Nara, had an ambition to have a similar 
object to worship in his own city; but he died be- 
fore he could carry out his plan. A lady of the 
court began to collect the funds, and appears to have 
been successful ; the image was cast in sections, and 
put together when it was erected, and the division 
lines may be seen. A wooden image was carved of 
the Shaka, which is only another name for Buddha, 
known also as Guatama in his earlier years, the 
money being collected by a priest.” 

The height of the figure is 49 feet, 7 inches ; the 
girt, 97 feet, 2 inches ; the length of the face is 8 feet, 
5 inches ; the length of the eye, 3 feet, 11 inches ; 
the width of the mouth, 3 feet, 2 inches. 

The Temple of Kwannon stands on a hill, reached 
by a shaded avenue. The party were more intent 
upon taking in the view from the elevation than they 
were in seeing the image of the deity, to which a 
white-robed bozu conducted them, and lighted with 
candles the dungeon-like apartment in which it was 
kept ; and it was so dimly illuminated that the figure 
could not be seen to advantage. It was covered with 


THE GIGANTIC IMAGE OF BUDDHA 203 


brown lacquer and gilded, though the priest said it 
was of “ kin,” or gold, implying that the image was 
made of that metal. The visitors were soon tired 
of it; the captain feed the bozu , and they hastened 
away, glad to escape anything more relating to the 
worship of Buddha. 

But the scenery in the vicinity was beautiful ; and 
they all enjoyed it, even the boys, who were not very 
sentimental. Returning to the hotel at noon, they 
found that the Blanchita had arrived, and that the 
early dinner was ready. 


204 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XX 

ENOSHIMA AND THE TOMB OF WILL ADAMS 

The early dinner was as good of its kind as the 
breakfast had been; and the party, not many of 
whom were epicures, enjoyed the table in a reason- 
able degree, especially after they had taken as much 
exercise as during the forenoon. The landlord was 
exceedingly polite, and looked after the proper dis- 
play of all the viands himself. 

“ Where are we going next, Captain Ringgold ? 55 
asked Mrs. Belgrave, who as usual, being the “ first 
lady / 5 as her companions had called her, sat next to 
him. 

“ I suppose Shimidzu could answer you better 
than I can, Mrs. Belgrave ; for I only know that 
we visit Enoshima this afternoon, going by the Blan- 
chita . 55 

“ And where is Enoshima ? 55 inquired the lady. 

“ It is a very beautiful island across the bay ; and 
that is all I know about it. It has its statues, tem- 
ples, and holy places, I suppose; but we shall not 
give much time to them . 55 

“ I hope not , 55 added Mrs. Belgrave, with something 
like a yawn. “ And where do we go after that ? 55 

“ We come back here, sleep at this hotel, and go to 


ENOSHIMA AND TOMB OF WILL ADAMS 205 

Odawara, on our way to Miyanoshita to-morrow after- 
noon.” 

“ What do we do in the forenoon ? ” 

“ Those who wish to do so will take a trip to Yo- 
kosuka by rail. But I find that it is necessary for 
me to say again to the whole company, especially as 
we are to end our voyage sooner than arranged in the 
beginning, that it is our purpose to take in only a 
specimen of each country we visit, and that we have 
already done more than that in Japan; but it is 
an exceedingly interesting country, and we shall be 
obliged to do something more than we intended,” con- 
tinued the commander, rising and raising his voice, 
for the dinner was nearly finished. “We shall go to 
the Hakone Lake, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaki, and Kobe, 
where the ships are ordered to come in about ten 
days. Then we shall go in them to Nagasaki ; and 
from there sail on our voyage to Australia. This 
programme may be changed if deemed advisable ; 
but in a general way, that is about what has been 
laid out.” 

“'You left out Lake Biwa,” interposed Shimidzu, 
who, with the other guides, was seated at the table 
with the party. 

“ Very well ; you will take us there. Now, Cap- 
tain Scott, we are ready to take your steamer,” said 
the captain, as he rose from the table. 

He stopped to compliment the polite landlord, and 
inform him that the party would be his guests till 
after dinner the next day. Mine host handled his 


206 


PACIFIC SHORES 


knees, bowed low, and breathed inward again. He 
accompanied the party hatless to the shore, where 
the launch was ready to receive her passengers. Of 
the four sailors on board of her, Clingman was the 
leading man by the appointment of the captain ; and 
he had arranged the steps so that the ladies could 
step on board without any difficulty, and they were 
handed up by the gentlemen. The commander con- 
ducted the “ first lady ” to the seats in the bow 
which surrounded the wheel, and the rest of the 
company took such places as they desired. It was 
only four miles to the island, and the boat would 
be there in half an hour. 

“ When we come here from Yokohama, we leave 
the train at Ko-zu. At low tide, or at any time ex- 
cept at high tide during a high course, w r e can walk 
over here on the sandy beach,” said Shimidzu, stand- 
ing at the side of the galley. “ This is a very popu- 
lar place of resort for people from all the towns near ; 
and the one street in the village is full of shops, 
where all sorts of curios are for sale, as well as cakes 
and candy for children. There are two temples on 
the hill, but I shall not ask you to see anything but 
the outside of them.” 

“ Thank you, Shimidzu ! ” added the lady. 

The pilot was familiar with the island, and took 
the launch to a part of the shore where the party 
could conveniently land. There were many visitors 
on the island ; and they were interesting to the Amer- 
icans, for they were dressed in their best. The 


ENOSHIMA AND TOMB OF WILL ADAMS 207 


guides joined their several parties, and wandered 
through the street, following the chief guide, looking 
in at the shop doors and windows ; but there was no 
novelty in them, unless it was the rope sponges, and 
a considerable quantity of them was purchased and 
sent to the steamer. 

Shimidzu brought the party to a flight of stone 
steps, leading to the summit of the hill, which they 
ascended. They were delighted with the view, and 
enjoyed it more than their visits to the temples, after 
the first of them. They made the circuit of the 
summit, and saw the outside of the two temples, and 
did not want anything more of them. On their re- 
turn they went down another flight of steps to the 
village of one street. 

“ Here is a school/’ said the chief guide, stopping 
in front of the building in which it was kept. “ Will 
you go in ? ” 

The party thought this was a decided novelty ; and 
stepping over the children’s clogs at the door, they 
entered, where they were welcomed by the teacher. 
He said something to the scholars ; and they all rose, 
bowed low, and with one voice said, “ Ohayo ! ” which 
means good-morning, though it was rather late in the 
day. The commander made a little speech in Eng- 
lish to them, rather for amusement than for any 
other purpose ; and the party went out while Shim- 
idzu was translating it into Japanese to the master 
and pupils. 

The tourists had done the island in a couple of 


208 


PACIFIC SHORES 


hours, and were very much pleased with their visit. 
They went on board of the Blanchita, and the pilot 
rang the bell to back her. Then he came about, and, 
as instructed by Captain Scott, headed her for the 
back of the island, which they soon reached. 

“This island in the early ages of our history was 
sacred to Benten, the Buddhist Goddess of Luck, and 
of the Sea; but now it is dedicated to three Shinto 
goddesses, to whom the temples of the hill are de- 
voted, said the chief guide in the bow, and Machida 
in the standing-room repeated about the same thing. 
“ But the most sacred place in the island is the great 
cave, 372 feet deep, and 30 feet high at the entrance, 
but becoming less as you go farther in. I cannot say 
that there is anything very interesting to be seen in 
it except the cave itself ; but if you wish to visit the 
interior, the pilot knows where to land you.” 

No one expressed a wish to see the inside of the 
cave ; for they had been into such places in India and 
elsewhere, and they liked the view in the upper air 
better. The pilot ran the boat up to Katase, from 
which people on foot pass over the sand beach to 
Enoshima. 

“ Shima comes at the end of a good many Japanese 
words. “ What does it mean, Mr. Shimidzu ? ” 
asked the first lady. 

“It means ( island ; 9 and if you said the island of 
Eno, it would be the same as Enoshima,” replied the 
guide. “ Stop her, if you please, pilot. Now you 
can see the mouth of a river which empties at Katase. 


ENOSHIMA AND TOMB OF WILL ADAMS 209 

That is the Yukiai-Gawa, the last two syllables 
meaning a river or stream ; and it is kawa except 
when it is put with the name of the stream. When 
Nichiren was miraculously saved from the sword of 
the executioner, at a village near this river, a messen- 
ger was sent to Kamakura to obtain further orders. 
The regent living there had just sent a reprieve for 
the saint, and the two messengers met in crossing 
this stream. From this circumstance the stream took 
its name, which means 1 the river of meeting.’ ” 

u I suppose you believe all these things you repeat 
so often to travellers, Shimidzu ? ” said the com- 
mander, laughing. 

“ I am a little doubtful about the sword that failed 
to take off the head of the saint, for Japanese weap- 
ons do not behave in that manner ; but I suppose 
if that part of the story is not accepted, the ‘ river of 
meeting 9 falls to the ground, or at least into this 
bay,” replied the guide good-naturedly. 

“ Very well answered, Shimidzu,” said Captain 
Ringgold. “Now come about, and return to Kama- 
kura.” 

It was a delightful sail ; and the company enjoyed 
it very much, and were rather sorry when the 
Blanchita arrived at her destination. The voyagers 
landed, and returned to the hotel. Captain Scott 
gave the crew permission to go on shore, but directed 
the pilot to have the launch moored off the land for 
the night. At the hotel a very appetizing supper 
was served to the guests ; and at an early hour they 


210 


PACIFIC SHORES 


retired to their rooms, which were furnished in for- 
eign style, and they did not have to sleep on the floor 
with a cricket for a pillow. 

After an early breakfast the company took the 
train for Yokosuka, where the Blanchita had landed 
her passengers the day before. They looked over 
the town and the dockyard for a short time ; but the 
attraction of the place is the tomb of the English 
pilot, William Adams, whose history is interesting, 
and Machida related it, as opportunity was presented. 
It was only a short walk from the town, and the 
party leisurely went up to the tomb. Near it is a 
Buddhist temple, where some relics of the pilot are 
kept, from which it would appear that he became a 
man of that faith ; for one is an image of Kwannon, 
another a letter in Japanese, and the third a long 
leaf of Buddhist scripture. As they are shown for a 
fee, that fact may indicate their origin. 

Will Adams, as he is commonly called, was the 
chief pilot of the ship Charity, which sailed from 
Holland in 1598. After some disastrous experiences, 
the ship arrived at the province of Bungo, in the 
southern island of Japan, near the Bungo entrance 
to the Inland Sea, with only twenty-four of her 
ship’s company left. The ship was seized and her 
cargo appropriated by the inhabitants of the prov- 
ince unknown to the government official. But the 
ship was afterwards given back to her officers, with 
a considerable sum in gold as compensation for the 
losses. Adams and the rest of the ship’s company 


ENOSHIMA AND TOMB OF WILL ADAMS 211 


were imprisoned, but well treated. The pilot was 
sent for by the Shogun, and taken to Yedo. The 
rest of the company were permitted to depart in their 
ship ; but Adams was detained, and employed as an 
instructor in mathematics and artillery practice, and 
received a grant of land where his tomb is located. 

He lived in Yedo, near the Nihon-bashi, where the 
street took its name from him. In 1613 the Clove, 
an English man-of-war, arrived. In company with 
the captain of her, Adams, then called Anjin, visited 
the Shogun, to whom he applied for permission to 
return to his native land ; but it was not granted. 
He was in favor with the ruler, and constantly re- 
newed his application to be allowed to go back to 
England, but without success. He was employed 
as a shipbuilder, and as agent of the government to 
treat with English and Dutch vessels as they began to 
arrive. He was too useful to be allowed to leave the 
country. Finally he consoled himself by marrying a 
Japanese wife, with whom he lived till his death. 

He died in 1620. Before his death he called his 
wife to him, and expressed his obligations to the 
Shogun for the success which had attended him 
in Japan. He wished to be buried on a hill which 
overlooked Yedo, and it should be on the land 
granted to him. Then he told his wife that he had 
saved a small fortune, which he requested should be 
divided into two equal parts, one for his wife, and 
the other to be sent to his surviving relatives in 
England. This is the explanation of the location 


212 


PACIFIC SHORES 


of his tomb, or grave, on the hill. In two hundred 
and fifty years he and his tomb seem to have 
dropped out of the remembrance of the living; for 
the latter was discovered by a gentleman of Yoko- 
hama, Mr. J. Walter, in 1872. The tombs are of 
stone, in Japanese style. That of the pilot has no 
inscription, rather indicating that he had not been 
converted to Buddhism; for that of his wife bears 
the priests’ posthumous title, always given to the 
faithful. The spot is now well cared for, and is a 
lovely locality, commanding an extensive view of 
the land and sea. 

The party arrived at the station in ample time for 
the train, and had been much interested in the 
story of the pilot, though some of the ladies did 
not believe he ought to have married a Japanese 
wife. They reached the hotel in Kamakura just 
as a gay party of Japanese ladies and gentlemen 
were getting out of their rickshaws. They evi- 
dently belonged to the better class, as indicated by 
their dress and by their graceful carriage. 

“ Shimidzu,” said Mrs. Belgrave, “ there are two 
young ladies in that party who wear their scarfs 
in the form of belts, as the others do, but they 
have scarfs also over the shoulder. Does that mean 
anything but merely ornament?” 

“ Indeed it does, madam ; and I think you must 
have noticed it before,” replied the guide. 

“If I did, I have forgotten all about it, for I 
never knew what it meant.” 


ENOSHIMA AND TOMB OF WILL ADAMS 213 

“ It means that they are unmarried ladies, “ re- 
plied Shimidzu, laughing. 

“ That is not a bad idea, is it, Captain Ringgold ? 
You have never been married ; and if you are dis- 
posed to do so, you can address one of those ladies 
with the certainty that you are not speaking to 
another man’s wife.” 

“ I am disposed to get married, but I shall not 
address one of those ladies with the shoulder 
sashes,” replied the commander, looking a great 
deal more than he uttered. “ I cannot speak Japan- 
ese, and they are too young for a man fifty-three 
years old ; for I shall marry a woman of thirty-five, 
if I marry at all.” 

The first lady blushed deeply ; for the captain had 
given her age as of that of the lady he would marry, 
and retreated into the hotel, followed by the com- 
mander, who had never come so near the point 
before, though every person in the party com- 
prehended the situation perfectly. When they met 
in their usual positions at dinner, the lady seemed 
to be what Mrs. Blossom called “ frustrated,” though 
she was evidently struggling to appear undisturbed. 
She talked with more than usual animation with the 
person on her left, the commander being at the head 
of the table on her right. The captain usually mo- 
nopolized her attention ; and as soon as he saw an 
opening in the conversation, he spoke. 

“ Are you ready to go to sea again to-morrow morn- 
ing, Mrs. Belgrave ? ” he asked. 


214 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“How can we go to sea to-morrow morning when 
the ships are not here ? ” she replied ; and in spite 
of herself she blushed slightly again. 

“I meant in the Blanchita; and the voyage will 
be only a dozen or fifteen miles to Odawara.” 

“ I shall be all ready for that,” she replied. 

“ Have you tried this broiled eel ? I recommend 
it.” 

“ If you recommend it that is enough, and I will 
have some,” she answered with a smile. 

After dinner they walked out together, and did 
not return till ten o’clock. Possibly something more 
passed between them, but of that nothing is known. 


THE JOURNEY TO MIYANOSHITA 


215 


CHAPTER XXI 

THE JOURNEY TO MIYANOSHITA 

As the tourists had retired early, they were stirring 
by six o’clock in the morning, and walking about 
Kamakura when everything was quiet there. The 
rather prolonged absence of the commander and the 
first lady the evening before had been observed, and 
the heavy blushing when she came to the supper- 
table had not escaped notice. There was not a little 
gossip, therefore, as the visitors wandered about in 
couples, and some of them declared that Mrs. Bel- 
grave had never looked so pretty since she sailed 
from New York. Mrs. Noury, who was more free 
in her comments than the others, wondered if there 
was not to be a wedding on board of the Guardian- 
Mother before the ship completed her voyage. 

“ It is their own business, and it has been going 
on for a year and a half,” said Mrs. Blossom, who 
had come out as the friend and companion of Louis’s 
mother. “ But I don’t believe there will be any 
wedding till she gets back into her new house, Mrs. 
Houry.” 

“ They seem to be perfectly agreed, as I have no- 
ticed since the first time I came on board of your 
ship,” replied the princess. 


216 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“Maud don’t say a word to me, though I have 
been nearer to her than anybody else, unless it’s 
Louis, ever since her husband died. But I think it 
a settled thing,” added Mrs. Blossom, with the know- 
ing expression of one who looks into the affairs of 
others. 

But breakfast was ready ; and it seemed as though 
nothing more need be said, since “ Aunty ” regarded it 
as a settled question. The captain and the first lady 
did not come to the table together ; and the conver- 
sation related entirely to the trip to Odawara, and 
the places to be visited after they arrived there. 
Muto had been sent forward to procure rickshaws, 
and rooms had been engaged by letter. 

“I have engaged rooms till next Monday morning 
at the Fuji-ya Hotel in Miyanoshita ; and we shall 
make all our excursions from there, including Lake 
Hakone, which is a very beautiful sheet of water I 
am told. We have been in plain sight of Fuji for 
two days now ; and if any of you wish to ascend the 
mountain, it should be done from here,” said the 
commander, as the breakfast was nearly finished. 

“ Brother Avoirdupois and myself will ask to be 
excused, as we understand that most of the ascent 
must be made on foot,” interposed Dr. Hawkes 
with his genial smile. “The pilgrims do it on foot 
as a religious exercise, but we lack the Buddhistic 
faith to make the sacrifice of adipocere to accom- 
plish it.” 

“ For the rest of us, we will leave that matter to be 


THE JOURNEY TO MIYANOSHITA 


217 


settled later,” said the captain as he rose from the 
table. 

Accounts had all been settled the evening before, 
and the servants had been feed. Captain Sharp and 
his wife and Dr. Henderson were to come down to 
Odawara by the early train. The baggage had all 
been brought down, and the porters were conveying 
it to the Blanchita. At eight o’clock the little steamer 
was under way, and the party were singing a familiar 
hymn, while it seemed that all the town had gathered 
on the shore to witness the departure, for the launch 
had excited a good deal of attention. When the tour- 
ists were tired of singing, Shimidzu and Machida told 
them something about Odawara, which had formerly 
belonged to some noble families, who had built a 
castle there, now in ruins, though not completely 
destroyed till the revolution of recent years. 

The company were not much interested in the bat- 
tles and sieges of the Hojo families, to which some 
of the regents who had ruled over Japan during a 
period of its history belonged ; and before the end of 
the story came, the Blanchita reached the- landing- 
place at the town. The chief guide led the way to 
the ruins of the castle ; and while they were waiting 
for a horse-car, they learned that the town was prin- 
cipally noted in modern times for the manufacture of 
a quack medicine called uird, which was believed to 
cure all the diseases to which human flesh was heir. 

It was odd to ride in a horse-car in that far-off 
country. As in England, they were called trams, 


218 


PACIFIC SHORES 


and electrics and cable cars had not yet invaded 
the Orient. It was a ride of only ten minutes, and 
the visitors were glad there was no more of it. 
They left the vehicle at Yumoto, and remained there 
long enough to see a pretty cascade, for which an 
admission fee was charged, perhaps not for the view 
of the waterfall, but for the accommodations which 
enable people to see it. 

At this town, which was a very pretty place, Muto 
had engaged the rickshaws, all with two motor-men, 
and the two wide ones for the Cupids, each with 
three men. The town was a very attractive place, 
and the party could have passed a couple of hours 
there in a very satisfactory manner. The procession 
started ; and the need of the extra men was apparent 
to the party after they crossed the bridge, for it was 
up-hill work for the next five miles. But the scenery 
was magnificent, and several declared that it could 
hardly be surpassed in the whole world. The road 
was on the side of a mountain, twisting about as the 
inequalities of the slope required, turning sharp cor- 
ners, and along breakneck precipices. Below them 
was a valley through which poured a rushing stream, 
whose noisy roar was music to their ears. The nu- 
merous turns in the road presented to them a new 
view at every change of direction, and the ladies used 
up their breath in exclamations at the loveliness of 
each new scene. 

The human friction of the motor-men was not as 
inexhaustible as that of steam, and they had to stop 


THE JOURNEY TO MIYANOSHITA 


219 


occasionally to give them a rest. At these times the 
guides passed along among their passengers, and told 
them all they wanted to know ; and the tourists were 
full of questions. Mrs. Blossom wanted to know 
how far it was to the place with the long name where 
they were going, and found that it was only four 
miles ; and she and others were sorry it was not 
farther, for they had never seen anything so magnifi- 
cent as the scenery around them. 

At one of these halts all the party got out of the 
rickshaws, and gathered together in the largest level 
space they could find. The draft-men could not keep 
up their five or six mile gait on this steep, and all 
were content with a walk. On the opposite slope of 
the mountains, on the other side of the valley, they 
discovered a white building of peculiar form ; and 
Mrs. Belgrave asked the chief guide what it was. 

“That is a Bussian church, madam, for there are 
some of that faith here.” 

“ I am sorry it is not on this side of the river, for 
I am sure you would be pleased to go into it,” added 
the commander. 

“We went into the one built by the Grand Duke 
of Nassau to commemorate his deceased Bussian 
wife,” said Louis. 

“That is only a chapel, though it is one of the 
most beautiful we ever entered. I suppose this one 
is hardly more than a chapel.” 

“ Have you ever been into a regular Bussian church, 
Captain Binggold ? ” asked Mrs. Belgrave. 


220 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ Into many of them in St. Petersburg and Mos- 
cow. Their form of worship is peculiar ; and the 
choir always includes a tremendous bass, whose voice 
reminds you of the rolling thunder. But we must 
move on, for the men have had a good rest.” 

The scenery continued to be as attractive as at 
the beginning of the trip. Presently they arrived 
at the village of Tonosawa, where they all alighted 
again. The Russian chapel was still in full view, 
and they could see it more clearly than before. They 
walked about the village, which was well provided 
with shops where refreshments could be obtained, of 
which only the younger part of the company partook, 
for the recent breakfast was still present with most 
of them. Mosaic woodwork was displayed in all 
of them ; and they learned from the guides that 
this was the specialty of all the mountain district 
through which they were passing. They were inter- 
ested in it, and they were likely to carry a consider- 
able quantity of it with them on board of the ship. 

The men were well rested again, and the proces- 
sion proceeded on its way up the slope. Shimidzu 
said that the motor-men did not often have such an 
easy time as on the present trip ; for some passengers 
were very unreasonable, and expected them to trot 
up-hill as well as down, and grumbled at the frequent 
rests which seemed to be necessary. A little later 
the caravan halted at a hamlet on the mountain-side, 
with a name travellers did not attempt to repeat. 
They found a workshop there where the finest qual- 


THE JOURNEY TO MIYANOSHITA 


221 


ity of bamboo basket-work was done, and the speci- 
mens pleased the ladies very much. 

The journey was renewed ; and after another hour 
of the keenest enjoyment of the scenery, which did 
not seem to pall upon the senses of the Americans 
and others of the company, Shimidzu, who was in the 
van, pointed out Miyanoshita, half buried in the side 
of the mountain ; and the tourists were inclined to be 
sorry they had come so near the end of their delight- 
ful journey. But they were to remain several days 
at the place ; and there were walks and rides almost 
without number, in which they could see more of the 
same scenery, besides climbing the mountain-sides, 
and sailing on the beautiful Hakone Lake. 

The polite landlord of the Fuji-ya Hotel was at 
the door to receive them when the vehicles stopped. 
The rooms for the company, including those needed 
by the three persons who had joined them at Oda- 
wara, were engaged ; and the baggage was conveyed 
to them at once, and servants conducted the guests 
to them. In half an hour they all appeared on the 
front piazza, where a beautiful view was obtained. 

Mrs. Sharp was hugged and kissed again by the 
ladies, who were all glad to have her with them. 
The two captains got into a corner to consider the 
movements of the ships. Dr. Henderson was having 
a talk with his patient the Bajah, and was surprised 
to find him so much better. The boys were already 
on the ground taking a survey of the premises and 
also a view of the mountains. From an elevation 


222 


PACIFIC SHORES 


they obtained a partial view of the lake, and thought 
it was a great pity they could not have the Blanchita 
on its placid waters. 

Miyanoshita is one of the favorite summer resorts 
of the wealthy and aristocratic Japanese and for 
foreign residents of Japan. Some of the hotels in 
‘this and similar resorts contain accommodations for 
both native and foreign guests, and there are some 
public houses exclusively for each. Both of the prin- 
cipal hotels in this place were on the mixed plan. 
The Fuji-ya charges three and three and a half yen 
a day according to the grade of the rooms, both rates 
being less than two dollars a day in United States 
currency, which is certainly very cheap ; for our best 
hotels charge live dollars a day, others three and 
four dollars. If it did not cost a little fortune to get 
there, it would be the most available summer resort 
for Americans. 

Bichshaws are not available for many of the roads 
in this mountain region ; but kayos , or mountain chairs, 
take their place to some extent, though walking is 
the more common means of locomotion. This con- 
veyance consists of a comfortable armchair, supported 
on two poles, with four bearers to carry it; and ex- 
tra large chairs are provided for fat people. Dr. 
Ilawkes and Uncle Moses looked them over very 
carefully, and then decided, with a vigorous shaking 
of the head, that they would not risk their necks 
and corporations in them going over the mountain 
paths. 


THE JOURNEY TO M1YANOSHITA 


223 


Just before luncli-time the party had gathered on 
the spacious piazza, and the commander asked who 
intended to ascend Fuji. Louis was asked to read 
the means of making the ascent from the guide-book ; 
and the company listened to it, most of them from 
curiosity rather than interest. The mountain is 12,- 
400 feet high as given by three authorities, and less 
than that by three others. Miyanoshita is 1,400 feet 
above the level of the sea, leaving 11,000 feet to be 
climbed, of which one half may be done on horseback ; 
but the Cupids shook their heads when this was said, 
for they did not believe there was a horse in Japan 
big enough to carry either of them. From five to six 
thousand feet of the distance must be climbed, some 
of it over rough regions, and snow still on the top. 

“ My friend and I, the heavyweights of the party, 
will not ascend Fuji, unless a couple of the ladies 
will carry us up in their arms, like a pair of diminu- 
tive babies/’ said Dr. Hawkes. 

“ If any of the ladies volunteer to render this ser- 
vice, we are ready to hear from them,” replied the 
commander. 

But the ladies and everybody else laughed violently 
at the absurd proposition, and Captain Ringgold called 
upon any one who wished to visit the summit of the 
mountain to make it known. There was a prolonged 
silence, and it did not appear that a single one of the 
company wished to make the ascent. They evidently 
regarded it as a foolhardy enterprise, like ascending 
Mount Blanc in Europe, where too many lives had 


224 


PACIFIC SHORES 


been lost in such ventures to encourage them. And 
lives had been lost in the ascent of Fuji. 

“ I wish to leave this matter open and free to all, 
and I have not said a word to discourage any one 
from going up who is disposed to do so,” continued 
the commander. “ I understand that the task may 
be accomplished in a single day, from four in the 
morning till seven in the evening, by very hard work ; 
but I fear that any of our party who should do this 
would be good for nothing more during the following 
week. With such magnificent scenery as we have 
around us, and sailing on the lake, to take the two 
days required to do the mountain with anything like 
comfort out of our limited stay here would be a waste 
of time. I have not said this till all of you have de- 
clined to make the ascent ; but now I have expressed 
my opinion plainly, and you will see that I am no 
mountain-climber.” 

The conference ended, and the visitors went to the 
dining-room for lunch. The meal was quite as good 
as that at the Sanatorium in Kamakura, which hotel 
had the reputation of setting the best table in that 
region, and to be quite as good as anything in Japan. 
The party were -very merry at the table, and it was 
not observed that Mrs. Belgrave blushed at all when 
the gallant captain spoke to her. 

“ I sent for you, Sharp,” said Captain Kinggold, 
when he had called the other commander to his side 
on the piazza. 

“My wife and I were just as happy on board of 


THE JOURNEY TO MTYANOSHITA 


225 


the ship at anchor in the bay as we shall be here,” 
replied the captain of the Blanche. 

“ We wanted to see you and your wife. Mrs. Bel- 
grave said it was a shame to leave you on board of 
the ship while we were frolicking here. Now you 
must stay here till Monday morning, when we all 
leave. Then you will return to Yokohama ; and you 
and Boulong will take the ships to Kobe, where you 
will anchor, and wait till the party joins you. This 
is the programme.” 


226 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XXII 

THE EX-SHOGUN OF JAPAN 

The Americans were delighted with Miyanoshita, 
not because it was peculiarly Japanese, but because 
of the magnificent scenery in and about the place. 
They admired it for what nature had done for the 
region. The hotels, the buildings, the people who 
belonged to the soil, the conveyances, the goods in 
the shops, and the manners and customs to some ex- 
tent, were Japanese. These were not disagreeable 
now that the visitors had become accustomed to 
them, but they were not the attractions of the local- 
ity. 

It was the pleasant walks among the mountains, 
the tumbling streams, the cascades, the views from 
the elevations, which interested them ; but they need 
not have come around the world or crossed the Pa- 
cific Ocean to find these ; for they could have found 
everything in the mountains of Vermont and New 
Hampshire, and especially in the Adirondacks, on a 
larger scale. Very likely the combination of natural 
features rendered the scenery attractive in Japan ; 
but there was hardly anything there that could not 
be seen at home, and on a vastly grander scale in the 
Rocky Mountains. 


THE EX-SHOGUN OF JAPAN 


227 


Eighteen or twenty persons was an inconveniently 
large number to wander about among the lovely 
scenes of the vicinity, and the small sections into 
which the company had been before divided were 
found to be the most agreeable. They had become 
acquainted with their several guides, and accustomed 
to their speech and manners, and a friendly feeling 
had been established between them. 

One of their first excursions was to the top of a 
hill near the hotel, which commanded a fine view of 
Fuji, though that could be seen from almost any 
spot ; and Hakone Lake, with the holy mountain, up 
which pious pilgrims were toiling most of the time, 
the summit often buried in the sky, towering above 
all the other elevations, the lake lying between two 
ranges of mountains, the slopes rising sheer from the 
edge of the water. Machida had not much to say; 
but Miss Blanche and Louis indulged in rhapsodies, 
and exclamations of delight were frequent. 

Mrs. Blossom and Felix were not so much im- 
pressed by the view, though they considered it very 
fine. At the southern end of the sheet of water, 
which was mostly concealed by the elevations inter- 
vening, were quieter scenes, and portions of landscape 
which were beautiful without being grand. 

“ Did you see anything in old Ireland which 
equals this scenery, Felix ? ” asked Miss Blanche ; 
“ for I suppose this view does not remind you of the 
bog ? ” 

“No, this is not like the bog; but do ye’s moind 


228 


PACIFIC SHORES 


the Gap o’ Dunloe, miss ? ” replied the Milesian ; for 
the party had been through Ireland. 

“That is not at all like this,” laughed the maiden. 

“Not loike it, but foiner, miss,” said Felix, who 
knew that she had spoken to him about his mother’s 
native land, but not his own, for the purpose of 
bringing out his brogue, which amused her greatly. 

“I think you are prejudiced by the remembrance 
of your ancestry, Musther McGavonty, for that Gap 
does not compare with this beautiful lake. There 
are three or four little puddles there which you call 
lakes, while this one is five or six miles long.” 

“ That’s like comparing your purty little self wid 
the faymale goiant in the Dime Museum ! ” ex- 
claimed Felix ; and the party laughed heartily. 

“He has you now, Miss Blanche,” added Louis. 

“Of course I shall have to give it up,” laughed 
the beautiful girl. 

The comparison of Felix was reported to the rest 
of the party at lunch, and it caused a great deal of 
laughter. In the afternoon came another excursion 
to one of the attractive spots in the vicinity. It 
would hardly interest our readers to see the Japan- 
ese names of the various places they visited before 
Monday morning; nor would the excursions of the 
several parties be very different from the walks and 
rides at the White Mountains, Lake George, and the 
Adirondacks, except the guides and an occasional 
tea-house, and they need not be given in detail. 
The parties saw innumerable cascades, fed swarms 


THE EX-SHOGUN OF JAPAN 


229 


of gold-fish, and under the direction of Scott and 
Morris sailed from one end to the other of the lake, 
and climbed the mountain paths until the following 
Monday morning, when they retraced their way by 
the route they had come to Odawara, where Captain 
Sharp and his wife took the train for Yokohama, 
and the larger party embarked in the Blanchita. 

Their baggage had been considerably augmented 
in bulk, though not in weight, by the wood-work 
and baskets purchased in the mountain villages, 
which was to be stored on board of the ships for 
home. The company were not only satisfied, but 
delighted, with Miyanoshita; and all of them were 
likely to remember the name of the place even, as 
well as the exceedingly delightful days they spent 
there. The party were very much pleased to be on 
board of the Blanchita again, for sailing on the 
smooth waters was an agreeable pastime. 

“You know that this peninsula is called Idzu, 
and you will sail round nearly the whole of it,” 
said Shimidzu, in the bow of the launch, while 
Machida was equally instructive in the standing- 
room; and the commander had told them at what 
ports they were to make a landing. “ Our first 
stopping-place is Atami, about twelve miles from 
here. It is sheltered by mountains from the cold 
north winds, so that it is a favorite winter resort 
for the nobility and wealthy class of Japan. It 
contains a geyser which spouts up steam about 
twenty feet, but only once in four hours. There is 


230 


PACIFIC SHORES 


a sanatorium there ; and the baths are supplied with 
hot water containing salt and soda, which is carried 
by pipes into some of the thirty-five hotels in the 
place, though only the Higuchi is in foreign style.” 

“ I suppose they have those baths hot enough to 
scald a pig,” said Dr. Hawkes, “as they did up in 
the hills where we have been.” 

“The Japanese consider hot water healthier than 
mere tepid water,” suggested Mr. Woolridge. 

“ I know they do, but they are not the most 
agreeable to Americans. What do they charge a day 
at the hotel you mentioned ? ” 

“ Three yen, including baths ; and the hotel is a 
very good one,” replied the guide. 

Mrs. Belgrave started one of the gospel hymns, 
and those at both ends of the boat joined in singing 
it; for this kind of music was very agreeable to 
them on the water. In about an hour they could 
see the town, with a considerable hill rising beyond 
it. Soon after they discovered a volume of smoke 
rising straight up in the still air at a point far to 
the south, and the commander asked what it was. 

“ It is from the volcano on Oshima, or Vries Island, 
which you saw when you went into the Gulf of 
Tokyo,” replied the chief guide, as he pointed it out 
to the party in the stern of the steamer. 

“Is there anything to be said about that island, 
which we noticed as we came in from sea ? ” in- 
quired the captain. 

“A good deal might be said about it, but I have 


THE EX-SHOGUN OF JAPAN 


231 


not time to say it before we get to Atami,” replied 
Shimidzu. “ I will only say now that its English 
name comes from Captain Yries, a Dutch navigator, 
who saw it in 1643. More may be said after we 
pass the town if you desire.” 

The company landed at Atami, and they walked 
about the place for an hour. It was very like all 
the other smaller places in Japan which they had 
visited, for it was not large enough to be mentioned 
in the list of towns whose population was given. 
They visited the geyser house, and were fortunate 
enough to hit one of its periodical eruptions. They 
found some novelties in the shape of articles made of 
camphor-wood, and of “ goose-skin,” a curious paper, 
and of a kind of printed cloth. 

The tourists embarked at the shore where the 
pilot had found a landing-place which did not seem 
to be known to others, or he had hit the high tide ; 
for the small steamers which run to Ko-zu, Odawara, 
and Tokyo have to take their passengers on board 
from sampans. The party had seen Atami, and had 
seen what there was in the town, including the ele- 
gant residence of His Imperial Highness the Crown 
Prince of Japan. The pilot rang his bell, backed out 
into deep water, and soon pointed out the Tunnel 
Pock, which projected out into the bay, with an open- 
ing through it which gave it its name. As there was 
nothing more of interest on the shore of Idzu, the 
pilot was directed to run more to the eastward, to- 
wards Yries Island, though they did not intend to 


232 


PACIFIC SHORES 


land there. In a couple of hours they were near 
enough to see the shores of it. 

The guides told the voyagers something more 
about the island, though they had no great interest 
in it. Ships noted it in coming to Yokohama, and 
took their departure from it in leaving. It contained 
six towns, or villages, all of them on the coast. The 
name of the volcano is Mihara, and it is 2,500 feet 
high. It is smoking all the time, and is subject to 
frequent eruptions. At a signal from the comman- 
der, the pilot changed the course to the westward, 
rounded the southern point of the peninsula, and 
headed her to the northwest, half north. It was 
nearly dark when the pilot made a landing on the 
shore at Shizuoka, where rickshaws were taken to the 
town, which is a place of considerable importance. 

Shimidzu was sent forward to engage rooms at the 
Daito-kwan Hotel, and order supper for the company. 
Everything was ready for them on their arrival, and 
the sea trip had given them sharp appetites. The 
landlord was as polite as others had been, and the 
supper was as nice as they could desire. There was 
quite a lively conversation at the table, in which the 
landlord seemed to take an interest. The visitors 
went to the drawing-room; but as the commander was 
leaving the dining-room, the landlord spoke to him. 

“ I beg your pardon, Captain Ringgold,” said he in 
good English. “ There is a Japanese gentleman of 
distinction in another room who wishes to meet you, 
and requests me to present him.” 


THE EX-SHOGUN OF JAPAN 


233 


“ Indeed, I wg,s not aware that any gentleman in 
this country knew me,” replied the commander, 
greatly surprised at the request. “ But I am at the 
gentleman’s service, and ready to meet him.” 

The landlord took his arm, and conducted him to a 
small but elegantly furnished apartment, where they 
found a gentleman seated in an easy-chair, smoking a 
cigar, and reading a newspaper ; but he rose when the 
door opened, and bowed politely to the captain. 

“ I have the honor to present to Your Excellency 
Captain Ringgold, commander of the steamer Guard- 
ian-Mother, from New York. Captain Ringgold, His 
Excellency Yoshinobu historically, Keiki in more 
common use, late Shogun of Japan,” said the land- 
lord. 

“ I am very glad to see you, Captain,” said the ex- 
Shogun, taking the hand of the guest. “ I am a pri- 
vate person, and seldom receive any one ; but I like to 
meet intelligent Americans, though it was their visit 
to Japan which created the revolution that swept me 
off the stage.” 

“ Among my passengers are some gentlemen who 
are much more learned than I am. They are all in 
the drawing-room, and I should be happy to introduce 
you to them,” said the captain. 

“ First tell me who they are. Do you smoke ? ” 
and His Excellency presented his cigar-case, from 
which the captain took a cigar. 

The cigars lighted, they seated themselves ; and the 
commander proceeded to inform the ex-Shogun of 


234 


PACIFIC SHORES 


whom his party consisted, not neglecting to mention 
the ladies. For half an hour they smoked and talked, 
and then went to the apartment in which the entire 
party were seated. Captain Ringgold presented his 
new friend to each one, using the whole title in every 
case. He could not help seeing that the gentleman 
was struck with the beauty of Miss Blanche and the 
princess, whose title was given, as was that of the 
pacha and the rajah. 

The magnate in retirement declined to take a chair, 
but spent a few minutes talking to the ladies, and 
then spoke in French to General Noury about Mo- 
rocco. With Dr. Hawkes he talked longer than with 
any other person. Fie had much to say also to Pro- 
fessor Giroud, and many questions to ask. With the 
commander he conversed of his voyage, and the differ- 
ent countries he had visited, and finally invited him 
to go with him to his residence ; and the invitationwas 
accepted. A handsome carriage came up to the door 
at the landlord’s call, and they seated themselves in 
it. After a drive of some distance, they came to a 
residence in good style, but not a palace, which they 
entered. 

They smoked again, and talked till ten o’clock, 
when the captain took his leave, and possibly wished 
that Keiki was still Shogun ; for he had treated him 
very handsomely. He told his guest that he lived in 
strict seclusion, taking no part in public or social af- 
fairs, though, as in the present instance, he was glad 
to have a social hour with gentlemen from foreign 


THE EX-SHOGUN OF JAPAN 


235 


countries. He invited his guest to visit him again ; 
but the captain replied that he should sail early the 
next morning for Nagoya, on his way to Kobe, where 
his ship would arrive in a day or two, and he should 
be happy to receive him on board and take dinner 
with him. But the ex-Shogun said he never went any- 
where, and was compelled to decline the invitation. 

The commander was sent back to the hotel in the 
carriage, and on his arrival made his arrangements 
with the landlord for their early departure in the 
morning. Pitts, the cook and steward of the launch, 
had been directed to procure provisions for a dinner 
for the whole company on board the next day ; for 
the boat would go through to Nagoya without stop- 
ping on the way. 

“ Where do we go next, Captain Ringgold ? ” asked 
Mrs. Belgrave, after he had announced the programme 
for the next day, informing the party that it would 
take about ten hours to reach Nagoya. 

“ At Nagoya we shall take the train for Hikone, on 
Lake Biwa, where we shall spend a couple of days in 
exploring the lake ; then we shall go by train to Ky- 
oto,” the commander explained. 

The company were called at half-past five in the 
morning, had breakfast, and embarked at seven. It 
was a cool day for June, with the wind blowing rather 
fresh from the northeast; but the Blanchita, in the 
smooth sea of the bay, went along very comfortably. 


286 


PACIFIC SHOE.ES 


CHAPTER XXIII 

DINNER ON BOARD, AND LAKE B1WA 

The party were very pleasant, and even jolly, as 
the Blanchita sped on her way over the smooth sea 
of the bay, sheltered from the north wind by the 
land. They sang hymns and songs, and talked a 
great deal about the ex-Shogun. Shimidzu said he 
had treated the Americans with extreme considera- 
tion, for he generally kept to himself. Of course he 
was a disappointed and aggrieved man, for he had 
been deprived of the government which his ancestors 
had usurped. He was the fifteenth of his line, and 
his word had been law until the revolution upset him; 
and it has never been easy for rulers of whatever 
name to submit to the loss of power. 

“ I think you made a mistake, Captain Ringgold, 
when you said it would not take more than ten hours 
for this boat to reach Nagoya,” said the pilot, as 
he found an opportunity to speak to him. 

“ I think it is very likely I did ; for I have no 
charts here, and I made my estimate from such 
maps as we have,” replied the commander. 

“ The distance by the railroad is one hundred and 
fifteen miles, and it is something more than that by 
water,” added the pilot. 


DINNER ON BOARD, AND LAKE BIWA 237 

“ Then, if Felipe makes nine knots with the Blan- 
chita, we shall not arrive at Nagoya till nine o’clock 
in the evening, or later,” continued the captain. “ I 
don’t like that, for the last part of our trip will be in 
the darkness.” 

“We might make a port at Toba, which is on a 
quiet little harbor near the narrow channel by which 
we go into the bay on which Nagoya is situated,” 
suggested the pilot. “ Then you will have only 
about thirty miles to go.” 

“We will consider that,” answered the commander, 
as he took a long look at the cape which was now 
in sight, and beyond which was the open Pacific 
Ocean. 

The water in that direction did not look inviting; 
and the white-caps curled up on the shore, and looked 
angry. In half an hour more the Blanchita plunged 
into these waves. The wind was fresher than when 
the company started ; and they had it on the star- 
board quarter, which caused the little craft to begin 
to roll, and even spilled some water on the party in 
the standing-room. As soon as Captain Scott saw 
how it was then, and was going to be later, he called 
the four seamen, and the stanchions which belonged 
on the rail were set up in that part of the steamer, 
and the curtains of painted canvas were stretched 
upon them. 

“ Excellent, Captain Scott ! ” exclaimed the com- 
mander, who had never seen the boat thus shut in 
from the waves. “ You will keep the passengers 


238 


PACIFIC SHORES 


astern very comfortable with those curtains, though 
you shut them out from any view of the shores.” 

“ There is nothing to see, sir, and I think they can 
sing and talk just as well under cover as if they were 
wet by the waves,” added the pilot. u I was afraid 
this wind would pipe up stronger down here, and 
make trouble for us. We have passed beyond the 
shelter of Idzu, and we have to take it here just 
as it comes.” 

The little steamer was practically before the wind, 
which made her jump and swing about in a wild man- 
ner. Captain Scott insisted that she was making 
good weather, though it was not as comfortable as 
the smooth sea nearer the head of Suruga Bay ; but 
he admitted that it was rougher than at any time 
during their voyage from Borneo to Siam. 

“ If you prefer, we can make a landing at Hama- 
matsu,” said the pilot. 

“ Where is that place ? ” asked the commander. 

"It is about fifteen miles beyond the cape.” 

“ The Hana-ya is a good hotel there,” said Shi- 
midzu. “ There was a sort of lagoon of fresh water 
here; but about three hundred years ago an earth- 
quake carried away the sand-spit that divided it from 
the sea, and since that time the salt water has flowed 
into it. The railroad crosses this inlet, and there 
are plenty of bridges and dikes over and about it.” 

The Blanchita floundered along through the rough 
sea, and made good time in spite of the commotion. 
Pitts was busy at the galley getting the dinner which 


DINNER ON BOARD, AND LAKE BIWA 239 

had been ordered ; and Lane had been directed to as- 
sist him, as he had frequently done in Borneo and on 
the voyage to Siam. Captain Scott thought the boat 
was behaving badly for her, for he had never hap- 
pened to sail her under just the present circum- 
stances ; but she was getting ahead nearly or quite as 
well as usual. He was not quite satisfied ; and he 
had ordered Clingman to step to the mast, and get out 
the sail, which he believed would steady the craft, 
and increase her speed. 

In a short time the sail was set, and the boat was 
on the starboard tack. Clingman trimmed it, and 
the effect was immediately apparent ; for she began to 
be steadier, and drove ahead over the uneasy sea at 
a furious speed. The water began to slop over the 
bow, and the curtain upon that side was put on. 

Lane went to work in the cabin, and set the table 
for twelve persons, all that could be accommodated ; 
and the “ Big Four ” had volunteered to wait on the 
table, and dine later. By noon the Blanchita had 
made the distance, and the pilot took her into the 
lagoon. At one o’clock, after the boat had come to 
anchor, the first dinner was served. The boys took 
off their coats, and with napkins for aprons seated 
the ladies and gentlemen. The young millionaire 
was the head-waiter, and everything was conducted 
in a very orderly manner. The Blanchita had ceased 
to roll in the landlocked bay, and the soup was served 
without an accident. 

The next course was the fish, for Pitts was compet- 


240 


PACIFIC SHORES 


ing with the hotels. The waiters were full of mis- 
chief. They kept as quiet and dignified as though 
they had been brought up to the business, though it 
was rather difficult for them to keep their gravity. 
In spite of the Buddhist dislike to taking the life 
even of fowls, the cook had found a dozen very nice 
chickens, a portion of which had been roasted for the 
third course. With the commander carving at one 
end of the table and Dr. Hawkes at the other, the 
company were soon helped, and Mrs. Blossom de- 
clared that the chicken was “ elegant.” A plum- 
pudding followed, and then a variety of fruit. 

“ I was always in the habit of remembering the 
waiters,” said the surgeon, as he handed a copper sen 
to Felix, who was behind his stool. 

“ Thank yer ahner very mooch,” replied the Mile- 
sian as he pocketed the coin ; and then the rest of 
the party followed the doctor’s example. 

“ Now, Mr. Commander, I beg leave to remind you 
that we have had an excellent dinner, and I doubt if 
we should have had a better if we had gone to the 
Hannah-Jane, or whatever that hotel on shore is ; 
and I move that the thanks of the first table be pre- 
sented to the cook and steward for the first-class meal 
which has been discussed,” said the doctor. 

The motion was seconded and passed unanimously ; 
and the commander, with fitting remarks, stated the 
vote to Pitts, who was looking after the various 
dishes, to which he replied in quite a little speech, 
and the company left the table, seating themselves in 





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DINNER ON BOARD, AND LAKE BIWA 241 

the bow and waist. The board was promptly cleared 
by Lane and the other sailors, the dishes washed, and 
everything made ready for the second dinner, for 
which the cook had fully prepared. 

The second dinner was precisely the same as the 
first ; and the princess, for a lark, insisted that the 
ladies should wait on the table. Four of the sailors, 
for the want of space at the board, were crowded out, 
and the meal was served to them in the waist. The 
princess waited upon them, while Miss Blanche hov- 
ered around the chair of Louis at the head of the 
table like a fairy at a Cinderella feast. Felix was at 
the foot of the table ; and at the end he presented a 
copper to Mrs. Belgrave, who was behind his stool. 

Then the Milesian made a motion to present a vote 
of thanks to the cook ; and it was passed, and de- 
livered in due form to Pitts, who replied as before. 
In fact, the whole affair of the dinners had been 
turned into a lark, and there was no end of fuu. 
Everybody was delighted with the affair, and the 
sailors who had been waited upon by the princess 
were as proud as though they had won their spurs 
in a tournament. The pilot, who thought he had been 
treated very handsomely when he was served at the 
table by the “ first lady,” moved the steamer to a 
comfortable landing-place ; and the party went on 
shore, and made their way to the Hana-ya hotel, the 
sailors carrying their baggage. 

Only four rooms in foreign style could be obtained, 
and these were appropriated to the married couples 


242 


PACIFIC SHORES 


and the three single ladies. The gentlemen could 
have regular beds on board of the Blanchita if they 
chose ; but they preferred to sleep on a Japanese mat, 
with a cricket for a pillow, for one night, as they had 
not yet tried it. Then they all went out with the 
guides to see the place, and walked for a couple of 
hours in the town. It was a clean and rather driv- 
ing place. They were struck with the roofs of the 
houses, which projected so far at the eaves that they 
seemed to be in the act of tumbling over. They 
were provided with an excellent supper in Japanese 
style, including broiled eels and raw fish, and all of 
them tried the latter as a matter of curiosity. The 
sauce was very nice, and with its aid they could 
hardly tell whether the fish was cooked or not. 
Doubtless prejudice was the only objection, but many 
Americans like dried codfish raw. 

The boys went to their rooms early, and they found 
them very bare compared with the apartments to 
which they had been accustomed even on board ship. 
But the mats were very thick ; and though not as soft 
as a mattress, they were very comfortable. The bug- 
bear of a pillow proved to be a box, broader at the 
bottom than the top, on which was a mat rolled up, 
and a quantity of rice paper soft and pleasant to the 
skin. They spread out both the mat and the paper, 
and found their position tolerably comfortable. At 
any rate, they went to sleep as they usually did, and 
slumbered like logs, till a very good-looking room-girl 
came in to call them at five in the morning. They 


DINNER ON BOARD, AND LAKE BIWA 243 

went to a kind of recess, which was the lavatory, 
washed, and their toilet was soon completed. 

After an early breakfast they embarked, and were 
soon sailing on the Pacific again 5 and it was pacific 
this time, for the wind had entirely subsided, and the 
sun was rising clear and bright. At noon the Blan- 
chita was off Nagoya, which is a city of 162,000 in- 
habitants, and a place of considerable commercial 
importance. The steamer made a landing at Atsuta, 
on the outlet of the lake on which Nagoya is located. 
The railroad crossed the stream here, and it was not 
convenient for the Blanchita to go any farther. 

“ Mr. Pilot, you will take the steamer to Osaka, and 
you will find our party at the Jiutei Hotel in three or 
four days,” said the commander. 

“ Run up the Tosa River, and stop in front of the 
hotel,” interposed the chief guide. 

“We shall take the train here for Lake Biwa, and 
from there go to Kyoto. If you are to moor the 
Blanchita in front of the hotel, you will not have to 
look for us, pilot. Now, Shimidzu, bring on your rick- 
shaws.” 

Matsu had gone for them ; and in a few minutes 
they came to the shore, for there were plenty of them 
at the railroad station, including even a couple of 
double ones. They drove to the city, and went to 
the Shukinro, a Japanese hotel, the one labelled “ for- 
eign” being very inferior. In some of the streets 
they saw the effects of the earthquake of 1891, which 
had done a great deal of damage in this section of 


244 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Japan. The railroad had been disabled, and trains 
did not run for a long time. They dined at the hotel, 
and then hastened to the castle, which is the principal 
attraction of the place. 

They all agreed that it was a funny-looking build- 
ing, as Mrs. Blossom declared as soon as she saw it. 
The lower part was of stone, with walls sloping in- 
ward, with four stories above it, each smaller than the 
next one below it, with a number of Japanese gables 
flanking each of them. Outside of the structure were 
barracks for the soldiers quartered at the castle. 
When the party presented themselves at the entrance, 
permits were demanded ; but the commander had not 
provided himself with the passports required of trav- 
ellers, for Mr. Psi-ning had procured for him and his 
party a document which caused officers and sentinels 
to touch their caps when they saw the seals and sig- 
natures upon it. They passed into the castle ; and an 
officer attended them, but he could not speak Eng- 
lish, and could only address the guides. The tourists 
went over the castle, and saw the remains of former 
magnificence in a decaying state ; and they were not 
greatly interested in the interior. 

Shimidzu had the time-table of the railroad, ob- 
tained at the hotel ; and he hurried his charge back to 
Atsuta, where the sailors had conveyed their baggage, 
consisting only of valises and hand-bags, to the sta- 
tion. They were soon seated in a train which came 
from Tokyo. At this point the rails no longer follow 
the Tokaido, but pass through a succession of rice- 


DINNER ON BOARD, AND LAKE BIWA 245 

fields, with blue mountains ahead. After going four- 
teen miles they crossed the Kisogawa River ; and four 
miles farther along they came to Gifu, where the road 
turns a square corner to the west, and after two hours 
more they came to Maibara, on Lake Biwa : but the 
travellers did not leave the train ; for their tickets were 
taken to Baba, where they arrived after dark, having 
been unable to see much of the lake. 

They had come eighty-four miles on the train, and 
they were very tired. Baba and Otsu are substan- 
tially the same place, the latter being a town of con- 
siderable importance. The Minaritei, called foreign 
in one place in the guide-book and semi-foreign 
in another, the Americans found very good. They 
had supper, which was semi-foreign, though one of 
either persuasion would have been satisfied. The 
rooms were entirely foreign; and the landlord was 
polite enough to say that he had heard of the party 
before, and had saved his best rooms for them, and 
possibly he said the same thing to other parties. 
Whether he did or not, the apartments were very 
pleasant, most of them looking out upon the lake ; and 
they were furnished well enough for a first-class hotel 
in New York. The commander had given the order 
for breakfast at nine the next morning; for all the 
tourists were very tired, and had been called early for 
several days. They slept soundly that night ; but 
most of them were down-stairs by eight o’clock, wish- 
ing to obtain their first view of what was regarded as 
a very beautiful lake. 


246 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XXIV 

TWO DATS IN THE ANCIENT CAPITAL 

It was a bright and pleasant morning when the 
American tourists came down from their chambers 
at Otsu, which is at the southwestern corner of Lake 
Biwa. It takes its name from its resemblance to the 
biwa, or Chinese guitar. It is about thirty-six miles 
long and twelve wide, and its area is said to be about 
equal to that of the Lake of Geneva. It was long 
believed by the Japanese that this lake and the Fuji 
mountain were produced by an earthquake, 286 b.c. ; 
but this is probably legendary history. 

Visitors to this lake generally come from Kyoto, 
the train bringing them in forty-five minutes, and 
arriving at seven in the morning. There were plenty 
of them in the vicinity of the hotel when the Ameri- 
cans appeared. Quite a number of the party, under 
the direction of Shimidzu, ascended a hill which com- 
manded a fine view of the lake, and thus obtained a 
general idea of the surroundings. But they hurried 
down in order to be in season for breakfast and the 
next steamer. They did not stay to visit the monas- 
tery near them, and the obelisk to the memory of the 
loyalists who fell in the Satsuma rebellion. 

At nine o’clock the entire company took a small 


TWO DAYS IN THE ANCIENT CAPITAL 247 

steamer for the sail on the lake, which they were 
willing to admit was beautiful, though they thought 
it was hardly equal to Lake Geneva or Lake George, 
to say nothing of some other sheets of water in 
the Adirondacks and elsewhere at home. Most of 
the visitors had gone by an earlier steamer, and the 
Americans did not find themselves in a crowd. They 
observed the scenery; and almost in spite of them- 
selves they began to sing, which was their favorite 
recreation on the water. 

The steamer made a landing at Hikone, where 
are the ruins of a feudal castle. The local govern- 
ment was pulling it down when the Mikado hap- 
pened to stop there in one of his progresses over the 
country, and immediately ordered the work of de- 
struction to cease. It was a picturesque ruin ; but 
our party, after looking at so many old castles in 
Europe and other parts of the world, were not inclined 
to visit it, and they proceeded in the steamer. 

The next place at which the little boat stopped was 
Nagahama, a rather interesting place, noted for its 
manufacture of crape. It was a fine town, but so 
like many other Japanese places they had visited 
that they did not explore it. The fact was, that they 
had become surfeited with sight-seeing. They went to 
the northern .end of the lake, and were so fortunate 
as to find a steamer which was going down to Otsu 
along the west side. There were some small towns 
to be seen; but the tourists took lunch on board, 
and did not go on shore at any of them. They ar- 


248 


PACIFIC SHORES 


rived at Otsu about four in the afternoon, having 
seen the noted lake, and were satisfied. 

Machida took the boys in rickshaws over to Seta, 
at the head of the lake, where the long bridge crosses, 
taking in an island in the middle of the stream, where 
the guide told them a fairy-story about “My Lord 
Bag-o’-Rice.” He was a great warrior, afraid of 
nothing. One day he was going to cross the bridge, 
when he saw a serpent twenty feet long in his path. 
Most people would have turned back, as the snake 
was ugly ; but he did not. He attacked the creature, 
and killed him. Then appeared a dwarf, who informed 
my lord that he lived at the bottom of the lake, and 
had a terrible enemy, which he begged the warrior 
to confront, and save him from further persecution. 
The knight-errant was fond of adventure, and went 
to the aquatic home of the dwarf, who was feasting 
him liberally when the fearful monster was heard 
approaching. He was an enormous centiped, a mile 
long, with a thousand legs on each side. 

The champion of the dwarf was armed with a bow 
and arrows, and he never missed his aim. He fired 
three times, hitting the monster on the forehead each 
time ; but the arrow glanced off, and it began to look 
like a hopeless case, when the knight happened to 
think that human spittle was sure death to a centi- 
ped, and he spat upon his next arrow before he dis- 
charged it. Instead of rebounding this time, the arrow 
went through the head of the centiped, and came 
out on the back side. He fell down dead this time, 


TWO DAYS IN THE ANCIENT CAPITAL 249 

shaking the whole region around like an earthquake. 
When the warrior returned to his castle, he found 
there a row of presents from the grateful dwarf. 
The first was a bronze bell, which the champion, 
being a religious hero, placed in the temple of his 
ancestors. The second was a sword, which made sure 
his victory over any enemy. The third was a suit of 
armor, which no arrow could penetrate. The fourth 
was a roll of silk, which never decreased in quantity 
however much was cut off from it. The fifth and 
last was a bag of rice, which would never be exhausted 
though he fed a multitude from it. From the last 
came his name of “My Lord Bag-o’-Rice.” 

After dinner the party rode out to the big pine- 
tree, three or four miles distant, with 380 branches, 
some of them 288 feet long, which makes the tree 
look a little like the centiped of the fairy-story, 
though there is no fiction about the measurements. 
It is nearly 100 feet high, and 40 in circumference; 
and Uncle Moses had something to say about the big 
trees of California. 

The tourists concluded that they had seen enough 
of Lake Biwa, though some of them thought they 
could enjoy a week there if they could take their 
own time, and not be hustled along so rapidly ; and 
they took the train for Kyoto the next morning. It 
was only ten miles distant, and they were there in 
half an hour. They went by rickshaws to the Kyoto, 
or Tokiwa, Hotel, near the centre of the city. The 
chief guide had written for rooms, and everything 


250 


PACirre SHORES 


was ready for them when they arrived. The build- 
ing was a three-story structure, with a garden in 
front of it, and an addition on one side. The party 
went to a parlor provided for them, where Machida 
was appointed to say something about the city. 

“From the earliest times the residence of the 
Mikados was in the province of Yamato,” he began. 
“ The son of any ruler, by the ancient customs of the 
country, did not occupy the home of the parent ; and 
therefore a change was made in the site with each 
reign. At the beginning of the eighth century the 
capital was established at Kara, about twenty-five 
miles southeast of Kyoto, which the commander says 
he has not time to visit. It contains many temples, 
and it has a Daibutzu six feet higher than the one 
you saw at Kamakura. The lake is very pretty, and 
it contains a five-story pagoda. 

“The capital remained here till a.d. 784. Then 
it was moved about till it came to this city, and was 
called the City of Peace, though not generally. When 
first laid out it was three miles across one way, and 
a third of a mile more in the other direction. One- 
fifteenth of its area was taken for the palace ; and a 
street two hundred and eighty feet wide extended 
through the city, with a great gate at the south end 
of it. This was over a thousand years ago. About 
three hundred years later the palace was destroyed by 
fire, and the capital removed to what is mow Hyogo, 
though it soon got back to Kyoto where it remained 
until 1868, when the Mikado moved to Tokyo. 


TWO DAYS IN THE ANCIENT CAPITAL 251 


“ Both the city and the palace have been burned 
up several times, and the present Imperial residence 
was built after the palace was burned in 1854. 
Since Yedo was founded, in 1590, Kyoto has declined 
in size and importance. The population is only half 
what it was in the days of its grandeur ; though it is 
now 279,000, or next to Osaka, which is the second 
city in the number of its inhabitants in the Empire. 
The Mikado palaces, Gosho and Nijo, are not open to 
the public; but with the commander’s pass for his 
party no doubt you can visit them if you desire.” 

“ Very well ; we will go to Gosho at once,” replied 
Captain Ringgold. “ What else is there in this place 
that we must see ? ” 

“ There are many Shinto and some Buddhist tem- 
ples ; but there is no law in Japan which compels 
you to visit them,” replied Machida. 

“ I am very glad there is not, for I am afraid we 
shall be inclined to dodge some of them.” 

“ At five o’clock this afternoon,” interposed Shi- 
midzu, u we must be at the Miyako-odori , which is 
looked upon as one of the features of this city.” 

“ Precisely so ; and we will be there, even if the 
sky falls,” laughed the captain. “ But as we have 
no choice, I think you had better tell us what it is, 
whether a church, a theatre, or a wrestling-match.” 

“It is an exhibition of the geisha girls, who dance, 
and the samisen girls, who play on a sort of guitar, 
from which they take their name. The affair is per- 
fectly proper and respectable. If you prefer, you can 


252 


PACIFIC SHORES 


have a number of the performers come to the hotel 
at four yen each, and have the performance entirely 
private.” 

“ No ! ” exclaimed Captain Ringgold with em- 
phasis. “We will not attend any performance in 
private which we should be ashamed to see in public. 
We will go to the show at the time you state, Shi- 
midzu ; and if any of the party prefer not to go, they 
are at liberty to stay away. To the palace now.” 

Three of the guides had arranged the rickshaws in 
front of the hotel at the order of their chief, and the 
party took their seats in them. The palace was not 
where it had been a thousand years before, but was 
now near the north of the city ; and it covers twenty- 
six acres at the present time. It is a mass of build- 
ings, enclosed by a wall with a roof on it. At the 
usual entrance they found sentinels ; and when the 
commander showed his pass, an officer was sent for, 
who touched his cap when he saw the seal on the 
paper. The party were invited to enter, and were 
treated with the utmost consideration. 

The company explored a portion of the palace ; but 
the apartments were very like a score of others they 
had visited, and they will not be described. They 
were modern in style and elegant throughout. After 
an hour spent in the building, the tourists returned 
to the rickshaws, and made very brief visits to sev- 
eral temples and monasteries, and then went to the 
hotel for lunch. The next thing in order was the 
Nijo Palace. The present edifice dates from 1601, 


TWO DAYS IN THE ANCIENT CAPITAL 253 

and was erected by the first of the Tokugawa Sho- 
guns, as a temporary abode. During the reign of the 
builder and his successors it was called the Nijo 
Castle. The present Mikado held a Council of State 
here in 1868, and promised to grant a deliberative 
assembly, like that of Germany. Then it was used 
as a City Hall, and was next taken as one of the 
Imperial summer palaces. It was restored to its 
former splendor in 1885, and the interior has been 
called a “ dream of golden beauty.” 

The American party were promptly admitted on 
the captain’s pass, and found it very beautiful, but 
so like other palaces visited that it need not be 
described in detail. The company went to the hotel, 
and then to the exhibition of music and dancing. 
Some of the girls were very pretty, and appeared to 
be modest and refined. The ballet was attended by 
respectable people, and there was nothing to shock 
even the strict Methodist ladies of the party. They 
• dined, and retired at an early hour, fatigued by the 
day of travel and excitement. 

Kyoto is noted for its stores, which some say ex- 
cel even those of Yokohama and the capital. The 
ladies had read enough to be aware of this fact, and 
they had deferred their purchases until they came 
here. The next day was given to the shops, and 
heavy purchases were made. The gentlemen in- 
dulged in bronzes and lacquer-work, and a variety of 
fancy goods. 

For the sake of the ride through# the country of 


254 


PACIFIC SHORES 


about fifteen miles, the company went to Hozu, for 
the purpose of descending the Katsura River through , 
the rapids. They did not find the ride in rickshaws 
as agreeable as anticipated; for the process of en- 
riching the soil with liquid • manure, carried in 
buckets by coolies, caused the air to be impregnated 
with odors which were so offensive as to be hardly 
endurable. 

Each rickshaw was drawn by two motor-men, and 
the double ones by four. But it was hard pulling, 
even with this extra force ; for the road was not the 
best, and the hills were frequent. The coolies needed 
many rests ; but when they had passed through a 
tunnel, and came to a descent of the hill, they broke 
into % a run, and with shouts kept up the pace to 
the foot of it. Matsu had been sent forward to 
engage the sampans for the descent of the river, 
and he presented himself as soon as the procession 
reached Hozu. He had engaged five of the large 
sampans, for all the motor-men and their rickshaws 
were to be conveyed down the stream. 

They were immediately loaded ; and with three 
boatmen to each craft, they started. It was not a 
very great novelty to the Americans, for they had 
been through such rapids before. The river was full 
of rocks, and the passage through the curling and 
leaping waters was sufficiently exciting. They passed 
through what the guides called the “High Rapid,” 

“ The Tiger’s Path,” and the “ Lion’s Mouth,” occa- 
sionally some of the ladies indulging in little screams. 


TWO DAYS IN THE ANCIENT CAPITAL 255 

Sometimes it seemed as though the frail boats 
must be dashed to pieces on the threatening bowl- 
ders, but the boatmen handled the craft with ad- 
mirable nerve and skill. The party arrived at 
Arashi-yama, the end of the trip, in two hours ; and 
there they disembarked. At this place there were 
tea-houses, with platforms extending out over the 
river, where the party seated themselves to enjoy 
the delightful view of the river and its shores, that 
on the opposite side being especially lovely. They 
drank tea, and partook of a light lunch. The rick- 
shaws were put on shore, and they returned to the 
hotel in one hour. Shimidzu paid all the bills on 
this, as on every excursion ; and probably the captain 
saved money by his careful management of the 
finances. 

The Americans had made a superficial examination 
of Kyoto in two days, but it was all the time the 
commander could allow them. The next morning 
they took the train for Osaka, distant thirty miles ; 
and in a couple of hours the rickshaws set them 
down at the Jiutei Hotel, in front of which, in the 
river, they found the Blanchita. Booms had been 
engaged, and the baggage was sent to them. After 
lunch the business of seeing the city was begun. 


256 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XXV 

OSAKA, THE VENICE OF JAPAN 

Before the tourists left the table after luncb, as 
it was served in a private apartment, Shimidzu gave 
them a brief account of the city, and began by say- 
ing that Osaka, sometimes written Ozaka, was the 
second city in population in the Empire, and it ap- 
peared to be the first in commercial importance to 
the visitors. It is situated on the Yodogawa, which 
divides it into two forks a few miles north of the 
city, the east branch passing through the densely 
settled portion of the town. Directly in the middle 
of the stream is a long and narrow island, which is a 
popular resort in the summer, and in the evening is 
a gay and brilliant scene. 

“The river, on a branch of which you are now 
located, is the outlet of Lake Biwa,” continued the 
chief guide, “ and contains an area of about eight 
square miles. Its name occurs in documents dating 
back to the end of the fifteenth century. The ancient 
name of the city, which is still used in poetry, was 
Naniwa, meaning ‘wave flowers/ because Jimmu 
Tenno, the first of the present line of Mikados, who 
became the ruler 660 b.c., encountered a great storm 
in the bay. 


OSAKA, THE VENICE OF JAPAN 


257 


“ In 1583 Hideyoslii decided to make the city his 
capital, believing that he could from its situation bet- 
ter control the Daimyos of the south and west, who 
were troublesome to many of the early rulers of the 
country. He therefore ordered a vast castle to be 
built here, calling in workmen from all over Japan ; 
and the work was driven so that the building was 
finished in two years. The palace was within the 
walls of the castle, and is believed to have been 
the grandest structure ever erected in the Empire. 

“ But Hideyoshi was at war with Ieyasu, the first 
of the Tokugawa line of Shoguns ; and his enemy cap- 
tured and destroyed the castle in 1615, though the 
palace remained. In 1867-1868 the foreign legations 
were received within its walls by the last of the 
Shoguns, the gentleman you met at Shizuoka. Will 
Adams, whose letters from Japan have been published 
in England, gave a glowing account of his reception 
at the court in this palace in 1600. He calls it a 
Avonderfully costly house, gilded with gold in abun- 
dance. He said that the city was as great as London 
within the walls, and the river as wide as the Thames. 
He calls the castle ‘ marvellous, large, and strong,’ 
with freestone walls ‘six or seven yards thick.’ The 
victor that captured it required its destruction as a 
condition of peace. All the buildings within the cas- 
tle were burned by the last of the Shoguns in 1868. 
There is a notable well on the premises called ‘the 
famous Golden Water,’ which furnished a sufficient 
supply for the garrison in time of siege. 


258 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“The city is sometimes called ‘the Venice of 
Japan ? on account of the numerous canals that ex- 
tend through and across it. Perhaps by reason of the 
stagnant water in the canals, or that brought down 
by the river, being the wash of such a region as that 
we passed over on our way to Hozu, the city is more 
subject to epidemics than others. There is a foreign 
settlement here as in Kobe, governed, as there, by a 
committee, of which you will learn more when you 
get there.” 

The company had not visited a mint in Japan, and 
they decided to do so in Osaka. The ride of twenty 
minutes through the streets and over the canals gave 
them a good view of some of the place. The mint 
was organized in 1871, when the manager was im- 
ported from Hong-Kong, though it has been under 
exclusive Japanese direction since 1889. Nearly all 
of the coinage is of silver and copper, which is really 
the only metallic currency in circulation, the Mexican 
dollar being the actual standard of value. Osaka has 
its share of temples, though they are not so abundant 
as in many smaller towns ; but it was decided to visit 
only one of them, to which they proceeded when they 
left the mint. It was in the southeast of the city, 
though the last visit was to the extreme north. 

Tennoji was the holy place visited, founded by a 
celebrated saint in the year 600 a.d. As the estab- 
lishment had endured at least twelve hundred years, 
it has several times been renovated at the expense of 
the Mikados or the Shoguns. As the party entered 


OSAKA, THE VENICE OF JAPAN 259 

at the great south gate they found themselves in a 
vast open space, in the centre of which was a square 
colonnade, open in the middle, which they entered. 
A bozu conducted them to a wooden chapel unpainted, 
and covered with thick shingles. This was dedicated 
to the founder-saint, who seemed to be content with 
very humble quarters compared with some of the 
temples the visitors had seen. The party only glanced 
at the interior, to the evident disgust of the priest, 
who looked better when the captain gave him fifty sen. 

Opposite to this chapel was what they called the 
Indo no kane, or “The Bell of Leading,” which is 
rung for the saint to conduct the dead into Paradise ; 
and it looks as though he did not understand his 
business if he needed a bell to remind him of his 
duty. Dolls, toys, children’s clothing, and other 
mementos of childhood, are offered up before it, evi- 
dently to propitiate the saint for the future welfare 
of deceased little ones, and not, as such things are 
placed on the tombs of children in Pere La Chaise in 
Paris, simply as memorials of the departed. Near 
the pond in the rear is a stone chamber containing a 
tortoise of the same material, from the mouth of 
which water is pouring out, which is carried away by 
a small rivulet. Believers here write the names of 
deceased friends who have recently departed, on strips 
of thin bamboo, which are attached to the ends of 
long sticks, and are held in the sacred stream that car- 
ries to the saint the petitions in behalf of the souls of 
the dead. 


260 


PACIFIC SHORES 


They looked in at the Golden Hall, which contains 
a beautiful shrine, on which is a copper-gilt image 
of a goddess, said to be the first Buddhist figure of 
a deity brought into Japan from Korea ; but that 
distinguished honor is claimed by another temple. 
Then they ascended to the gallery at the top of the 
five-story pagoda, and spent an hour there observing 
the city and its surroundings, and tracing out such 
places as they happened to know. Then they re- 
turned to the hotel, the name of which, Jiutai, is pro- 
nounced joo-tay. The lunch was not equal to that 
they had partaken of in several other hotels. 

The afternoon was devoted to the shops and ran- 
dom trips over the place. Extending across the city, 
a couple of blocks from the hotel, was the Shinsai- 
bashi-suji, which was noted for its stores, and cer- 
tainly they were very fine. But the people and 
everything else appeared to the tourists less Europe- 
anized than any other city they had visited. Not a 
word of English was spoken as a rule, and the guides 
had to do all the talking when purchases were made. 
The guide-in-chief then led the procession over parts 
of the place not yet visited. 

They went over a bridge on the grand canal, which 
was full of junks, sampans, and various other craft; 
but it was not much like Venice, whose canals are 
mainly used by light gondolas. On this round the 
procession halted, and secured a favorable position 
to see a regiment of Japanese soldiers. In most of 
the large cities of the United States a native of 


OSAKA, THE VENICE OF JAPAN 


261 


“The Land of the Eising Sun” may be seen; and 
they may always be distinguished from Chinamen by 
the absence of the cue. The Chinese men are gener- 
ally taller than the J apanese ; and what particularly 
struck the gentlemen of the party as the soldiers 
passed them was their smallness of stature. They 
are not taller than our women on the average. The 
officers were good-looking men as a rule, and for some 
reason seemed to be taller and more athletic than the 
rank and file. 

In the evening the visitors went on foot with the 
guides, and wandered about among the gay and bril- 
liant scenes of the city. Some of them went into 
places where the geisha girls were dancing, whose per- 
formance was modest and proper, though the music of 
the samisens was horrible, as the ladies expressed it. 
Some of the shops were brilliantly lighted ; and the 
Dotombori, the theatre of the city, was in full blast, 
but the performances, ten or twelve hours in length, 
were not to the taste of Americans. 

They crossed over to the narrow island in the 
river, which was more “gay and festive” than any 
other portion, presenting all sorts of shows and 
amusements ; but a little of this was enough, and 
they returned to the hotel. They had worked hard, 
and they were tired ; and when they were seated in 
the private parlor they voted unanimously that they 
had seen enough of Osaka for though it- was so 
large, it presented fewer attractions to a stranger 
than any other city they had visited. 


262 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ I don’t like this hotel,” said the commander. 
“ To-morrow morning we will go to Kobe, which is 
the last place in this part of the country we shall 
visit. It is the commercial rival of Yokohama, and 
contains a larger population now by thirteen thou- 
sand. Will you go there by train, or in the Blan- 
chita ? ” 

“ Blanchita ! ” exclaimed the entire party with one 
voice. 

“ That will certainly be the most convenient way 
to go, for we shall embark at the door. It is seven- 
teen miles by train; and perhaps it is twenty by 
water, for we have to run down this river to get 
into the Bay of Osaka. By the way, Shimidzu, what 
is the flower emblem of Japan ? ” 

“ The sixteen-petal chrysanthemum since the pres- 
ent ruler became the sole sovereign of the Empire ; 
and it has been restored in the palaces generally, 
as you saw in the Nijo Palace in Kyoto,” replied the 
chief guide. 

“ That is the flower, but I had forgotten the name,” 
added the captain. “ I was riding along the French 
Broad River in North Carolina; and the land side 
of the road was covered with this flower in blossom, 
and it was a very pretty sight.” 

The commander rang the bell, and ordered break- 
fast to be ready at half-past six the next morning, 
and notified the members of the company to have 
their baggage ready to be put on board of the little 
steamer at the same hour. All of them then went 


OSAKA, THE VENICE OF JAPAN 263 

to their rooms, where the furniture was “foreign,” 
though it was not as nice as in most of the other 
hotels catering for English and American travel. 
Probably they were tired enough to sleep soundly, 
though they were in the parlor at the hour speci- 
fied. Before seven the meal was disposed of ; and the 
baggage was stowed in the waist of the Blanchita by 
the sailors, under the direction of Captain Scott. 

The pilot was familiar with the navigation of the 
river, and at a few minutes after seven the captain 
told him to go ahead. There was little to interest 
the party till they reached the bay ; and they sang 
all the way, to the satisfaction of a small crowd, that 
followed the steamer on each side till the cut-offs 
barred their farther progress. The pilot used the 
compass when he was clear of the shore, and headed 
the boat to the west; for she went five miles from 
the shore in some parts of the bay. 

“It is a smooth sea,” said the commander, who 
was in the bow with his small party ; “ and I think 
we had better have a meeting aft, and hear what 
Shimidzu or Machida can tell us about Kobe. There 
is next to nothing to be seen here which cannot be 
taken in from the standing-room.” 

The party accepted the suggestion, and they moved 
aft ; and as soon as they were comfortably seated, it 
was observed that the two principal guides appeared 
to be engaged in a debate carried on in their own 
language. 

“ What’s the trouble there, Shimidzu ? ” demanded 
the commander. 


264 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ Which of us shall tell you about Kobe,” replied 
the chief guide, laughing quite heartily. 

“That is the question between you, is it?” added 
Captain Binggold. 

“Machida can handle English better than I can, 
and I wish him to do the talking.” 

“ But he is the chief guide, and he ought to do it,” 
said Machida. 

“ Both of you speak English well enough for us, 
for we are not all college professors,” answered the 
commander, taking an American quarter from his 
vest pocket. “Head stands for Shimidzu, and eagle 
for Machida. Which will you have, Shimidzu ? 
Which, Machida? though of course you must take 
the other.” 

“ Head,” replied the chief guide. 

Then the captain flipped the coin up in the air, and 
it came down on the deck. 

“ Pick it up, Clingman, and say which side is up,” 
added the commander. 

The sailor looked at the coin before he picked it 
up, and announced that the eagle was uppermost, and 
the lot fell upon Machida. 

Clingman handed the coin back to the owner ; and 
Machida, much amused at the manner in which the 
question had been settled, took his place at the head 
of the party, with a memorandum-book he had taken 
from his pocket, for it was hardly possible for the 
guides to remember all the facts and dates they used. 
He showed the book to Mrs. Belgrave ; but it was in 


Osaka, the Venice of japan 265 

Japanese character, and all slie could do was to 
laugh. 

“ Kobe has a population of 135,000, or 13,000 more 
than Yokohama, as the honorable commander has just 
told you,” the guide began. • 

“ Hold on, Machida ! ” called the captain, laughing. 
“If you are going to title me at all, make it imperial, 
for I claim to be as big a man as the Mikado.” 

“ As the Imperial Commander told you.” 

“That’s better,” said the captain. “Now go on, or 
we shall get to Kobe before you get started.” 

“ Kobe was opened to foreign commerce in 1868. 
Before that time the native trade was carried on in 
Hyogo, which is the foreign quarter of Kobe, and the 
whole prefecture was known by that name. As in 
Yokohama, the foreign portion of the town is called 
the Settlement, and called so here more than in the 
other city. The place is governed by a committee, or 
council, consisting of the prefect, who is a Japanese, 
the foreign consuls, and three members elected from 
the residents of the Settlement. There are usually 
four consuls here ; though there may be more or less, 
making the council consist of eight members. The 
town is rapidly extending its borders beyond the 
former bounds of the Settlement, creeping up into 
the hills in the rear. There is a limit beyond which 
foreigners are not allowed to lease lands or houses ; 
but I have no doubt the line will be moved back when 
occasion requires. 

“ Kobe is the favorite open port of Japan ; for, 


266 


PACIFIC SHORES 


unlike Osaka, it is blessed with a pure and dry at- 
mosphere. You will find a Shinto temple in a grove 
back of the town if you have occasion to visit it. 
The Nunobiki waterfalls, the highest eighty-two 
feet, are worth visiting } and there are no end of 
delightful walks among the hills. I think there is 
nothing more I need say about Kobe, except that the 
Kobe Club will be a pleasant resort for the gentle- 
men.” 

The Blan chita came up to the pier, and the com- 
pany landed in good order. 


KOBE, AND FESTIVAL ON BOARD SHIP 267 


CHAPTER XXVI 

KOBE, AND THE FESTIVAL ON BOARD SHIP 

The harbor of Kobe is semicircular in form, and 
that of Hyogo is nearly of the same shape; the 
former town being the foreign, and the latter the 
native. The Settlement is separated from Hyogo by 
the Minato River, which discharges itself into Osaka 
Bay at the extremity of a peninsula, jutting out 
about three miles from the main shore, and forming 
one side of each of the harbors. There are three or 
four wharves, or piers, extending out into the harbor ; 
and the Guardian-Mother and Blanche had anchored 
near the one which takes the name of the Settle- 
ment. 

The ship’s companies of both vessels were in the 
rigging as the Blanchita approached the pier, and the 
little steamer was saluted with a volley of cheers 
from each of them. The party landed, and walked 
to the head of the wharf, where a multitude of 
rickshaws were waiting. Captain Sharp, Mrs. Sharp, 
and Mr. Boulong were on the pier, with a boat’s 
crew from each ship ; and the company felt as though 
they were at home again, and proceeded at once to 
the Oriental Hotel, which was near the landing- 
place. 


268 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ Are you ready to go sea, Captain Sharp ? ” asked 
the commander of the Guardian-Mother as they met 
on the pier. 

“ All ready, Captain Kinggold ; and I believe every- 
thing is in good order and condition for a voyage,” 
replied the captain of the Blanche. 

“ The same can be said of our ship,” added Mr. 
Boulong. 

“ But we shall not be ready to sail for three or 
four days yet. Your crews are not worked very 
hard, and I suppose they can afford to wait if we 
can,” said the commander. 

“ They seem to be quite contented ; for about half 
the hands have had leave to go on shore every day, 
and most of them could tell you all about Kobe.” 

The hotel was but a short distance from the pier, 
and most of the party walked to it. Captain Sharp 
and Mr. Boulong, both of whom were dressed in their 
best uniforms, were invited to lunch with the com- 
pany. The ladies especially were glad to see Mrs. 
Sharp again, and the first officer of the American 
ship was pleasantly greeted by all. At the hotel 
Captain Sharp introduced to the commander a gen- 
tleman and his son from Brooklyn, the former of 
whom had been in Japan twenty-six years. Both of 
them were members of the club ; and all the gentle- 
men were introduced there before lunch, and invited 
to make themselves at home in its rooms during their 
stay in Kobe. 

The lunch was excellent, and the Brooklyn friends 


KOBE, AND FESTIVAL ON BOARD SHIP 269 

joined them at the table. Of course a great deal of 
talking had to be done, and the residents were in- 
vited to visit the ships. At the club the gentlemen 
were introduced to several merchants and others, and 
the visitors had no reason to complain of the want 
of attention. After the lunch the several sections, as 
they had been arranged before, took their places in 
the rickshaws gathered by the chief guide, and rode 
all over the place. The Settlement is better laid out 
and better built than that at Yokohama. The streets 
were provided with sidewalls to some extent, which 
are not often seen in Japan, and the background of 
hills, the highest of which is 2,500 feet high, gives 
an agreeable variety to the view. 

The next day the tourists visited the Shinto tem- 
ple of Ikuta, situated in a grove of cryptomerias, or 
Japanese cedars, and camphor-trees. The deity wor- 
shipped here is said to be entitled to the name of the 
Japanese Minerva; as she is believed to have intro- 
duced the loom, and taught its use, and to have in- 
structed the people in the use of clothing. This 
temple is alleged to have been founded by the Em- 
press Jingo, who reigned about two hundred years 
after Christ, on her return from her expedition for 
the conquest of Korea. This lady lived sixteen hun- 
dred years ago, and her exploits are so marvellous 
that we may wonder whether or not her name is not 
the “ Jingo ” of American politicians. She went to 
Korea with a gallant fleet, assisted by the big and 
little fishes, and by a miraculous wave, and returned 


270 


PACIFIC SHORES 


only when she had received the abject submission of 
the Korean king. She is reputed to be the mother 
of Hachiman, the god of war. 

She landed at Kobe, which is still a good place to 
land, and feeling very much obliged to the Japanese 
Minerva for her success, she erected this temple in 
her lioner. Hideyoshi, when sending an expedition 
to Korea in the sixteenth century, caused prayers 
to be offered at this temple, doubtless encouraged to 
do so by the example of the Japanese Semiramis, 
as Madam Jingo is sometimes called. In seasons of 
drought or of excessive rains, prayers to this deity 
are said to be answered without exception ; and she 
seems to be a very convenient divinity. She appears 
to be an expert in Korean affairs, and the Japanese 
may have still further occasion for her. At any rate, 
her temple is in a very pleasant locality 5 and she 
appears to be able to accomplish more than “Old 
Prob” pretends to do, and regulates the weather, 
while he only predicts it. 

Those of the company whose climbing ability would 
admit ascended Suwa-yama, a spur of the range in 
the rear of the Settlement, whose tea-houses and min- 
eral baths attract many to the place ; and there they 
obtained a very extensive view of the sea and the 
shore, including a portion of the island of Awaji, 
which is about thirty miles long, full of natural 
beauty, ancient history, and legends. 

After lunch the company visited the Nunibiki 
Waterfalls. On their way they passed what is called 


KOBE, AND FESTIVAL ON BOAUD SHIP 271 

the Recreation Ground, which is a place for base- 
ball, cricket, foot-ball, golf, and similar games. A 
ride of twenty minutes brought the party to the 
vicinity of the falls ; and they left the vehicles to fol- 
low a path along the gorge in the hills till they came 
to the cascade, forty-three feet high, which is called 
the “Woman’s Fall,” why, unless on account of its 
inferior height, the books or the guides say not. At 
this point there is a tea-house, and a pretty covered 
bridge, over which the procession of sight-seers 
wended their way, and up the steep to the “ Man’s 
Fall,” which justifies its name in being eighty-two 
feet high. Both the masculine and the feminine falls 
are very pretty cascades, though neither is a Ni- 
agara. 

In the tea-house the party partook of the standard 
cup, and then made their way back to the rickshaws, 
the Cupids puffing and blowing like a pair of gram- 
puses. The rest of the day was given to a ride through 
Hyogo, the native town, whose name you may spell 
with a y or an i, and still be in the fashion. There 
is a Daibutzu at a temple here which is forty-eight 
feet high, and eighty-five around the waist; but these 
images of gigantic size had become so common in 
this portion of Japan that they ceased to attract the 
Americans, for they had seen four without going to 
N ara, where there is a fifth ; but the one at Kama- 
kura is the only one that need be visited, and all the 
others are inferior to it in artistic merit and in every 
respect except mere size. The company visited some 


272 


PACIFIC SHORES 


of the shops in both towns j but in Hyogo, in one of 
them they found an assortment of old things suffi- 
cient to fit out a museum in New York or Boston, 
such as armor, pagodas, stone lanterns, swords, em- 
broideries, ancient and modern porcelains, bamboo 
ware, and all sorts of knickknacks. 

On its way back the procession, for the sections 
had united for this excursion, stopped at the Kobe 
Club, which the ladies had been invited to visit to see 
how bachelors employ some of their spare time. The 
company passed through all the apartments, the bar- 
room, the reading-room, where they found a plentiful 
supply of English and American papers, the library, 
the parlors, and all the rooms in the building. All 
of them were handsomely furnished, and supplied 
with everything that could add to the comfort of the 
frequenters of the establishment. 

On the following day all the ladies and gentlemen 
whom the visitors had met were invited to dine on 
board of the two ships, and the stewards were pre- 
paring for the occasion. At the end of the ride' the 
procession proceeded to the residence of the Brooklyn 
gentleman, which was out a short distance in the 
hills, all of which were ornamented with handsome 
residences. As they ascended the last hill they 
heard the strains of the pacha’s Italian band, which 
had been sent out to serenade the family of the gen- 
tleman, and there was a considerable crowd present 
to listen to the music. 

The party entered the mansion, which was a pretty 


KOBE, AND FESTIVAL ON BOARD SHIP 273 

liouse, and were welcomed by the members of the 
family, who made themselves very agreeable. A 
light collation was served ; and for an hour the ladies 
and gentlemen conversed about Japan and Kobe, and 
the commander declared in a loud voice that he had 
never been the recipient of such unbounded hospital- 
ity as in the city of their present sojourn. He hoped 
to meet all the ladies and gentlemen with whom he 
and his passengers had come in contact during their 
stay in Kobe on board of the two ships the next 
day. 

The band, having partaken of the collation, was sent 
to the Recreation Ground to play for an hour, and 
was to play during the evening at the club. The 
party returned to the hotel in season for dinner, and 
the evening was given to the visitors who called upon 
them. The next morning the passengers returned to 
the ships to be in readiness for the great occasion. 
The Blanchita and the barges were to bring off the 
guests, and they were at the pier at eleven o’clock. 
In consultation with General Noury and Captain 
Sharp, Captain Ringgold decided to move the two 
ships nearer to the pier, and, as the sea was perfectly 
smooth, to lash them together, so that the guests 
could pass from one to the other without any incon- 
venience. 

This was soon accomplished, with the aid of a tug 
and the Blanchita. Both steamers had been profusely 
dressed with flags. The two gangways were brought 
together, and a broad gang-plank passed from one to 


274 


PACIFIC SHORES 


the other, over which a canopy of flags was arranged. 
By ten o’clock everything was ready. Mr. Melanc- 
thon Sage, the chief steward, and Monsieur Odervie, 
the cook, had been instructed to do their best ; and the 
corresponding officials of the Blanche had received 
the same direction. The tables had been set for forty 
persons in each cabin. At half-past ten the Blanchita 
and the barges were sent to the pier ; and the band be- 
gan to discourse its choicest music on the promenade 
deck of the Blanche, which was the nearer to the 
wharf. 

The first to come on board were the members of 
the family of Mr. McLoo, the Brooklyn merchant, 
though this is not exactly the name by which he 
is known in Kobe. They were received by Louis 
as they mounted the gangway, for the younger mer- 
chant and he had become quite intimate. Mrs. 
McLoo the elder, though still a young woman, doubt- 
less on account of the salubrious air of her Japanese 
home, and her husband were taken in charge by the 
commander, with an aunt who lived with them, and 
shown over the two ships. The younger Mr. McLoo 
came with a young and very pretty wife recently 
imported from Brooklyn ; and Louis conducted them 
through the two steamers, and did his best to make 
them entirely at home. 

All the “Big Four,” as well as the officers of 
both ships, were required to do the honors of the 
occasion, and conduct the various guests over the 
steamers. General Noury and his wife, the prin- 


KOBE, AND FESTIVAL ON BOARD SHIP 275 

cess, were especially attentive to the residents of 
the city, and both of them escorted parties about; 
in fact, all the passengers did the same. Even Miss 
Blanche took charge of a trio of young gentlemen 
she had met at the club. There was not a single 
person or party of the residents unprovided with a 
cicerone. The dinner was to be at three o’clock ; 
though cake, ice-cream, and lemonade were served 
at several places on the ships. 

“How very happy you must be, Mr. Belgrave, 
in sailing all over the world in such a beautiful and 
comfortable steamer as the Guardian-Mother,” said 
the younger Mrs. McLoo, as Louis and Miss Blanche, 
with the lady and her husband, seated themselves in 
the boudoir after the guests had inspected the vessel. 

“ I think we are all very happy, though some of us 
get very tired of sight-seeing, and we are especially 
weary of looking at temples and 'shrines,” said Miss 
Blanche, who attracted the attention of all who came 
on board, ladies as well as gentlemen. 

“I should think you would skip them,” added 
Mrs. McLoo. 

“That is just what we do now, though I suppose 
we have come to about the end of them. We have 
had a most delightful time in Kobe ; and I think all 
the residents here have tried to make us happy, and 
have fully succeeded.” 

Little groups were scattered about over the steam- 
ers, and all seemed to be enjoying themselves to the 
utmost. The band played at intervals, and the visi- 


276 


PACIFIC SHORES 


tors declared that such music had never been heard 
in Kobe before. The Japanese prefect and his wife 
were present, and especial attention was given to 
them. 

At the time designated dinner was announced. 
The guests were requested to seat themselves in 
either cabin as they preferred, though the passengers 
who had made friends on board or in the city se- 
lected places for their parties. The commander took 
the lady of the prefect on his arm, and seated her 
on his right hand, with her husband on his left. 
Louis was next to the government official, with Miss 
Blanche and all the McLoos on his left. General 
Noury had the president of the club on his right, the 
princess on his left. 

As soon as the company were seated, the hum of 
conversation pervaded the cabins, and. it was by no 
means a Quaker assemblage. There were not more 
than half a dozen vacant seats ; and the guides were 
invited to occupy these places, with the pilot of the 
Blanchita. The commander insisted upon making it 
a thoroughly democratic affair. Of course, with the 
distinguished artists in the pantries and galleys, the 
dinner was all that could be desired, and it passed 
off in the pleasantest manner possible. No wines 
were served; for it was understood by all that the 
commander, the “ first lady,” and the young mil- 
lionaire were teetotalers “ of the most strictest 
sect.” 

At four o’clock the commander rapped on his 


KOBE, AND FESTIVAL ON BOARD SHIP 277 

table, as General Houry did upon that in the cabin 
of the Blanche ; and when he rose he was received 
with the most tremendous applause, literally so, and 
he could not speak for several minutes. But as soon 
as he could he made a very vigorous speech, in 
which he praised the hospitality of the Kobeans in 
the highest degree ; and his passengers applauded this 
sentiment. He paid his respects to the prefect, and 
then presented him to the company. The prefect 
thanked the commander for his pleasant words ; but 
on account of the difficulty he had in using the 
English language, he begged to be excused. Then 
he asked the British consul, who was an orator, to 
speak for him. 

This gentleman made an excellent speech, and so 
did the American, German, and French consuls. Mr. 
McLoo, Sen., was very happy in his remarks ; and 
others spoke, both the residents and the passen- 
gers. Then the company were invited to the music- 
room and boudoir. 


278 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XXVII 

A VISIT TO AWAJI AND SHIKOKU 

Some of the gentlemen went to the captain’s room 
to smoke with him, — all who indulged in the use of 
the weed in this form ; but there were enough who 
did not do so to attend upon the ladies. The “Big 
Four,” who were sometimes counted as men and some- 
times as boys, had not learned to smoke ; or if Scott 
had ever acquired the habit, he had abandoned it. 
Mrs. Belgrave had begun early to talk to her son 
against the practice, and he had never smoked a cigar 
in his life. His precept and example strongly influ- 
enced the other three, and all of them went with the 
ladies to the music-room. 

“ I suppose you have nearly finished Japan, Cap- 
tain Ringgold,” said the president of the club when 
they were seated in the commander’s room. 

“Yes, sir. We shall attend church here, such as 
desire to do so, to-morrow ; and on Monday morning we 
shall take leave of the most hospitable place we have 
visited,” replied the captain. “The ships will pro- 
ceed directly to Shimonoseki, anchor in the Bay of 
Moji, and wait for the Blanchita. The passengers, or 
as many of them as prefer to do so, will leave in the 
steam-launch, stop at Yura in Awaji, and Tokushima 


A VISIT TO AWAJI AND SHIKOKU 279 

in Shikoku, and then go by the Inland Sea to Shimo- 
noseki, where the little steamer will be taken on board 
of the Blanche, and we shall proceed in the ships to 
Nagasaki, which will be our last port in Japan.” 

“ Yon ought to stay six months in the islands, Cap- 
tain,” suggested the prefect. 

“ My party are already very tired of sight-seeing ; 
in fact, so weary of it that I have cut out a consider- 
able portion of the trip, though partly because I have 
business in New York which requires my presence at 
the beginning of next year. We have now been a 
year and a half on this voyage, and have visited most 
of the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the 
islands of the Indian Archipelago.” 

“ And where do you go next ? ” inquired the Ger- 
man consul. 

“ To Australia.” 

“ You will arrive there at a comfortable season of 
the year,” added the American consul, who had been 
unremitting in his attentions to the tourists. 

With this conversation, and a great deal more, the 
cigars had become short, and the smokers followed 
the commander to the music-room and boudoir, where 
Mrs. Belgrave and the princess were looking after the 
recreation of the company. It was the lady from 
India, and not the one from Yon Blonk Park, who had 
caused the gospel hymn-books to be distributed ; for 
she was fond of the peculiar music they contained. 
With the “ first lady ” at the piano, the singing was 
well under way. The members of the Italian band 


280 


PACIFIC SHORES 


soon came up from dinner, and they had “got the 
hang” of the simple music. They were placed in an 
alcove which had been prepared for them, and took 
the place of the piano about the time the smokers 
joined the party. 

These religious melodies were a comparative nov- 
elty in “ The Land of the Rising Sun,” and for half an 
hour they were greatly enjoyed ; but something a little 
more stirring seemed to be required, and the princess 
soon had the American games in full blast. Blind 
Man’s Buff and Turning the Cover produced a deci- 
dedly hilarious sensation, and the Cupids were the 
stars of the occasion. About nine o’clock some of 
the Kobean ladies thought it was time for them to 
go home. The commander intimated that the boats 
were ready to convey any who wished to leave to the 
shore, but he hoped they would all remain as long as 
they could. But about one-third of the company left, 
and the recreation was of a milder type after they 
had gone. Some remained till midnight ; and every 
one took the hand of the commander, “ the first lady,” 
the princess, and many of the passengers, as they 
went over the gangway. It was all over at last, and 
the tired party went to their staterooms. 

As soon as the Blanchita returned from the shore 
after landing the last of the guests, the ships were 
moved back to their original anchorage, and then all 
was quiet. The next day all the party who were not 
too tired went to such churches as they chose, and 
it was a day of needed rest. Few visitors came on 


A VISIT TO AWAJI AND SHIKOKU 281 

board ; but late in the afternoon the Belgraves, Miss 
Blanche, and the boys made a parting call upon the 
McLoos. Those who were up early enough the next 
morning in the Settlement, and looked seaward, saw 
the black smoke pouring out of the funnels of the 
Guardian-Mother, the Blanche, and the Blanchita. 
The voyage through the Inland Sea was to be made 
by all three of the craft ; but the Cupids and the 
Bajah decided to remain on board of the larger 
vessels during the passage, and Dr. Henderson had 
to attend upon the aged father of the princess, who 
had a slight return of his complaint, and the stout 
gentlemen did not care to be knocked about, as they 
termed it, in the steam-launch. 

The ships were the first to get under way after the 
passengers who were to go in her had been trans- 
ferred to the Blanchita, which was done immediately 
after breakfast. There was a collection of ladies and 
gentlemen on the wharf by eight o’clock, the hour 
the captain had announced as the time for the de- 
parture of the little steamer. The pilot was directed 
to take the boat along the pier, but not very near it. 
The gentlemen cheered lustily, and the ladies waved 
their handkerchiefs ; and these salutes were returned 
in kind by those on board of the boat. Good-bys 
were shouted from both sides, the Blanchita grace- 
fully circled about till she was headed to the south, 
and the pilot rang the bell for full speed. The ladies 
continued to wave their cambrics and the gentlemen 
their hats till neither party could see the other. One 


282 


PACIFIC SHORES 


would have supposed that they were all of the same 
family, or had been friends for years instead of two 
or three days. 

The island of Awaji, in the shape of a leg of 
mutton, extended almost to the main shore ; and the 
Blanchita was soon abreast of and quite near the 
town of Kariya. The surroundings were of the most 
picturesque character, with pretty little coves and 
quiet nooks, pine-trees on the shore, and narrow val- 
leys extending up to the green hills, with a view of 
Senzan, the island’s highest mountain, with others of 
less height near it. 

“ You ought to stop at Kariya, Captain Ringgold,” 
said the pilot. 

“ We cannot stop at all these places ; for there are 
half a dozen of them on the island that are worth 
visiting, if we were going to stay in Japan six months 
or a year,” replied the captain. “ This is a beautiful 
shore, and we will enjoy it from the boat ; but we 
shall land only at Yura, because the place is on the 
shore, while Sumoto, the capital, is some distance 
back. We stop at Yura only, pilot.” 

In an hour and a half the boat was off the capital, 
which could be seen. Then it was only six miles to 
the stopping-place, but the scenery continued to be 
very attractive. The tourists enjoyed it so much 
that the “ first lady ” could not get them to sing, for 
they had to talk about what they saw on the shore. 

“ How long is this island, Shimidzu ? ” asked Louis, 
who was seated with Miss Blanche in the bow, which 


A VISIT TO AWAJI AND SHIKOKU 283 


the boys called the fore-cabin, for it could all be 
closed in like the standing-room. 

“ About thirty miles, sir,” answered the chief guide. 
“The island is mentioned in the earliest legends of 
Japan.” 

“ Which are very like those of Scandinavia,” Louis 
interjected. 

“ Awaji is said to be the first result of the mar- 
riage of Tzanagi and Izanama, the creator and crea- 
tress, when they set about bringing into existence the 
various islands of the archipelago through which you 
will sail to-day and to-morrow,” continued the guide. 
“ The beauties of the harbor of Yura, where alone 
the commander has decided to land, have been sung 
by the poets from the earliest times.” 

“ Within the period of authentic history, so re- 
garded at the present time, the Emperor Junnin was 
deposed by his predecessor, who was the Empress 
Koken. She was a Japanese Messalina ” — 

“ What’s that ? ” interrupted Mrs. Blossom. “ Do 
you know, Professor,” she added appealing to him, 
for he had accompanied her forward. 

“It was a woman, the infamous wife of the Roman 
Emperor Claudius,” replied the learned gentleman. 

“ Junnin was her successor ; but she wished to 
reign again, and he was deposed and banished to 
this island, a.d. 764. He attempted to escape, but 
died here, probably assassinated, within a year. The 
island now forms part of the prefecture of Hyogo,” 
the chief guide concluded ; and the same story was 


284 


PACIFIC SHOPES 


told by Machida in the after-cabin, as the standing- 
room had been called by the boys. 

All that had been said and sung about the har- 
bor of Yura was fully realized after the boat had 
gone around it, and was approaching the landing- 
place. Here an officer demanded the passports of 
the party, and they had no such document ; but the 
commander exhibited both his general pass and a 
paper given him by the prefect the evening before, 
and the official apologized for troubling him, and 
bowed most obsequiously. The party walked about 
the place for half an hour, rather to give Pitts a 
chance to set the table for dinner than because they 
expected to find anything worth seeing in the town. 
Things were quaint in the place, and a great fort was 
in process of construction for the defence of the 
towns on Osaka Bay. 

The party returned on board when a signal was 
made on the boat that dinner was ready, and they 
were in condition to enjoy the meal after the early 
breakfast and the delightful sail from Kobe. The 
number was less than when they had dined on board 
before. Two of the sailors had donned white jackets 
to assist the steward, and the dinner passed off very 
quietly and with no confusion. The soup was excel- 
lent ; the fish was broiled conger eels a la Japanese ; 
and the roast beef, said to have come from Korea in 
a refrigerator steamer, was tender, juicy, of fine 
flavor, and was cooked “to a turn.” A fruit pud- 
ding, and a dessert of sweet oranges procured in 


A VISIT TO AWAJI AND SHIKOKU 285 

Yura completed the courses ; and the company de- 
clared that they should like to dine on board every 
day. Pitts was praised till he blushed as though he 
had drunk a pint of saki , though he was a member in 
good standing of the Sons of Temperance. 

The Blanchita got under way at once when the 
dinner had been disposed of, and the pilot headed 
her to the southwest. The little seaport of Fukuru 
was pointed out half an hour later, across a cape ; 
and the commander could see that the boat was 
standing across the swift current produced by the 
tide flowing into the Inland Sea, and he said as 
much to the pilot. 

“ That opening is the Naruto Channel ; and there 
is a tremendous rush of water through it, especi- 
ally at the spring tides, when the passage is dan- 
gerous, and junks never venture into the current,” 
said the pilot. “We are not within ten miles of 
it now ; but it would be well for us to know where 
you intend to spend the night, Captain.” 

“I wished to have my passengers put foot upon 
the island of Shikoku, and I thought Tokushima 
would be the best place to do it,” replied the com- 
mander. “What time shall we get there?” 

“It is now two o’clock, and we shall not get there 
till four. It will be about seven this evening that 
ISTaruto will be at its worst ; and that would be about 
the time the boat would get there if you stopped 
only an hour or two at the town you visit. Then, 
I cannot take the Blanchita through that bad place 


286 


PACIFIC SHORES 


on such a dark night as this will be,” the pilot ex- 
plained. 

“ Then, you make it out that we must stay over 
night at Tokushima, if I understand you,” added the 
captain. 

“That is just it,” the pilot assented. 

“ But there is a good hotel there, starred in Mur- 
ray, with a restaurant where foreign food is served,” 
said Shimidzu. 

“ All right ; then, we will spend the night there,” 
added the commander. 

“This is no baby place,” said Machida, who was 
walking in the waist. “ It contains 61,000 inhabi- 
tants, and is the capital of the prefecture of Awa. 
At this town the largest river in the island discharges 
itself into the bay, the Yoshinogawa — gawa at the 
end of a name, you have learned, means river. This 
stream has beautiful scenery along its whole course, 
but it takes about four days by rickshaw to see it all.” 

The Blanchita went into the harbor, behind an 
island ; and the party, with their hand-bags, landed, 
and proceeded to the hotel, which has the pleasant 
name of Hiragama-ro. They obtained rooms, and 
then took the rickshaws the chief guide provided, 
and rode all over the town. 

It was still early in the afternoon; and the resi- 
dents of the town, and doubtless many from the sur- 
rounding country, were in the streets, so that they 
had a fine opportunity to see the people, especially 
the ladies, for they are celebrated for their beauty, 


A VISIT TO AWAJI AND SHIKOKU 287 

and the visitors realized that the fact fully justified 
their reputation. Murray says that the whole prov- 
ince of Awa has this same characteristic, and that 
the dress even of the peasant girls is as neat and 
tasteful as their features are attractive. Mr. Gardi- 
ner, whose wife was with him to supervise and in- 
dorse his conclusions, says that “ Tokushima is well 
worthy of a visit, if only to see the handsomest 
women in Japan, for which the province of Awa is 
noted. Taller in stature and with more rounded 
limbs than most of those we have seen, their clear- 
cut profiles, long eyelashes, and finely shaped mouths, 
together with their almost olive complexions, render 
them exceedingly attractive.” 

The members of the party who had read and used 
Mr. Gardiner’s book, which is finely illustrated, fully 
indorsed his opinion in regard to the ladies. The 
company enjoyed their ride very much because so 
many of these ladies were visible in the streets, and 
exhausted the town before they went to dinner, hav- 
ing visited the public garden, the castle, and what 
public buildings there were. The private residences 
were similar to what they had generally seen in 
Japanese towns. 

After a talk with the pilot, the commander fixed 
the hour of sailing at eight the next morning, which 
would bring the party to the Naruto Rapids at about 
ten ; and all of them were anxious to see the grand 
spectacle which had been described to them. 


288 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XXVIII 

RAMBLES AMONG THE JAPANESE ISLANDS 

The breakfast at the hotel, as the dinner the even- 
ing before had been, was very good; and most of the 
party had taken a walk, so that they were in excellent 
condition to appreciate and enjoy it. The rickshaws 
to convey them to the harbor were assembled on 
time. When the ladies and gentlemen went out of 
the house, they were surprised to see how large a 
crowd had gathered to see them start. In their ride 
and walks through Tokushima they had been ob- 
served with great curiosity and interest by the people 
in the streets. 

Although it was a large town, it was not so much 
visited by foreigners as the larger cities of Japan, 
and four ladies in the same group were unusual ; but 
all that gazed at them were respectful, and kept at a 
proper distance from the tourists, so that they were 
not crowded or annoyed in any manner by them. 
There were quite as many women as men in the 
gathering, and the visitors had an opportunity to ob- 
serve the attractions of the feminine portion. If the 
finest ladies were not present at that early hour, it 
was a very good-looking crowd ; and those of the 
middle and lower class were worth observing. 


RAMBLES AMONG THE JAPANESE ISLANDS 289 

As the vehicles moved off, the ladies and gentle- 
men saluted the observers as politely as possible, and 
smiled upon them as though they were pleased, as 
they really were. It was a bright and beautiful 
morning, with only a gentle breeze; and the party 
were likely to have a smooth sea, except where the 
water was disturbed by the rushing rapids at places 
in the Inland Sea. This is an exceedingly interest- 
ing sheet of water, which includes several archipel- 
agoes, and lies between the island which is called the 
mainland of Japan, and the two large islands of 
Shikoku and Kyushu. It has but four openings into 
the outer seas, — Akashi, near Kobe, Naruto, and the 
Bungo Channel, between the two larger islands, all 
of them leading into the Pacific on the east, and the 
narrow strait of Shimonoseki on the west, leading 
into the Sea of Japan. From this strait to the 
Kobe it is 239 miles, and the steamers of the native 
company make the passage in about twenty hours. 

The tourists found the Blanchita in excellent con- 
dition, with steam up, and all ready for the sail. The 
navigation through the Inland Sea is difficult and 
sometimes dangerous, and the commander had ex- 
amined the pilot at Kobe in regard to his ability 
to take the little steamer safely through the perils 
of rocks and rapids. He proved by his papers 
that he was regularly licensed, and had served some 
years on the steamers of the Nippon Yusen com- 
pany. 

In about an hour the boat was approaching the 


290 


PACIFIC SHORES 


narrow pass, and the passengers saw the town of 
Fukura at the head of an inlet. At the time of the 
spring tides the people of the neighboring districts 
make a holiday, and a great many boats go out to 
observe the rush of water. The passage is nearly 
a mile and a half wide. The rocks in the middle 
divide it into two unequal sections, that on the Shi- 
koku side being the grander rapid, and affording the 
better view of the scene. 

As it was not a spring tide when the Americans 
reached the channel, the rapids were not in a danger- 
ous condition, and it was not even the most stirring 
time of the tide. Still, it was a rajfid, and the pas- 
sengers enjoyed it very much. The boat went through 
without the slightest difficulty, and the pilot justified 
his reputation. 

The Blanchita passed through the rest of the chan- 
nel, and came out in the Harima Nada, one of the five 
seas into which the main body of water is divided, 
just as a very nice-looking steamer was coming down 
from the northeast. She was moving at the rate of 
about twelve knots an hour, and appeared to have a 
large number of passengers on board, who were ob- 
serving the scenery on the shore ahead of them. 

“That is a Japanese steamer/’ said Shimidzu, as 
the vessel came nearer to the steam-yacht. “ It is 
the Saikio Maru, I think. She is one of the new 
steamers of the line, and in Japan we think she is 
a very fine craft.” 

“ I have heard a great deal about the line ; and 1 


RAMBLES AMONG THE JAPANESE ISLANDS 291 

was told that the company was entirely Japanese, 
only one of the directors being a foreigner.” 

“ That is quite true. The company has fifty-eight 
steamers, running to all the important ports of Japan, 
to China, and the Russian possessions.” 

“ And they make a good thing of it ; for with a 
capital of eleven million yen, they pay a yearly divi- 
dend of nine per cent. They say the steamers are 
handled entirely by Japanese.” 

“Rot entirely; for the captains are generally Eng- 
lishmen, though the commander of that steamer is 
an American. The other officers are natives ; but the 
waiters are Chinese, as they are on the Pacific Mail 
and the Empress lines.” 

“And they are very good waiters, as a gentleman 
who came over on the China said to me, though 
they mix the English language badly,” added the 
commander. 

“ On these steamers you will find every comfort 
and luxury of European and American steamers, — 
electric lights, nice baths, spring beds, and a table 
as good as the Grand Hotel in Yokohama,” said Shi- 
midzu proudly. 

Pitts had been to market at Tokushima with one 
of the guides as an interpreter, and towards noon the 
odors from the galley began to indicate that the party 
would not suffer at dinner-time. The Blanchita con- 
tinued to go ahead at full speed ; and while the din- 
ner was in preparation, she followed the Japanese 
steamer into the channel between the large island of 


292 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Shozu-shima and Shikoku, and at dinner-time she was 
off the town of Takamatsu, a city of 32,000 inhabi- 
tants. None of the party cared to land there; but 
the better to see the scenery, the commander ordered 
the boat to anchor in a quiet nook till after dinner. 
He did this because he did not like to have the pilot 
leave the wheel even long enough to take the meal, 
and he was invited to dine at the first table. 

With soup, fried . soles, and young ducks, a very 
satisfactory dinner was served ; and Pitts was told 
that he could earn more money as a French cook than 
he could going to sea before the mast. But he de- 
clared that his health would not permit him to earn 
his living in a kitchen, though he had learned the 
art on shore. As soon as the party left the table the 
anchor was weighed, and the Blanchita went ahead 
again. Before the party were the lofty cliffs of the 
island of Oshima, descending precipitously to the 
water. 

The pilot said this was one of the difficult places 
in the navigation, and requested that those around 
should not speak to him ; for the passage was full 
of rocks and reefs, and the tide made a very active 
current through the channel, and his attention must 
not be called away from his duty. It would be quite 
impossible to name all the islands, even if we knew 
them, for there are three thousand of them. The 
Inland Sea for the next hundred miles was a succes- 
sion of archipelagoes. The scenery was of the grand- 
est character ; and the tourists enjoyed every moment 


RAMBLES AMONG THE JAPANESE ISLANDS 293 


of the time in passing through these narrow chan- 
nels, and gazing at the peaks, precipices, and rugged 
valleys which surrounded them. They saw Tadotsu, 
Imabari, and other towns in the distance ; but they 
were not tempted to land at any of them. 

It was beginning to be dark, and the company had 
taken their supper, when the Blanchita was off Ima- 
bari ; and it became a question whether they should 
land for the night or continue on the course. There 
was no convenient town at which a landing could be 
made, and the pilot said it would be plain sailing in 
a few hours. It was therefore decided to keep on 
the course. There were five ladies on board ; and the 
after part of the cabin was partitioned off with one 
of the curtains used to close in the yacht by the boys, 
and all the conveniences of the craft were in this part 
of her. The entire party sat up till eleven o’clock ; 
the steamer had passed from the Bingo into the Iyo 
hTada, and there were few islands to be seen. 

The beds were made up in the cabin, and there was 
room for all to sleep as comfortably as though they 
had still been in the Grand Hotel., The ladies made 
a jolly time of it, but they were soon lost in slumber. 
Clingman and Lane were the watch ; and at two in 
the morning Captain Scott relieved the pilot, who 
turned in on the cushions of the fore-cabin, and was 
soon asleep. The seamen took their tricks at the 
wheel till six in the morning, when the captain had 
anchored the Blanchita in the harbor of Moji, nearly 
opposite Shimonoseki. 


294 


PACIFIC SHORES 


The ladies appeared about seven; and then the 
yacht ran over to the town on the other side of the 
strait, where they landed, and went to the Fujino 
Hotel, to which the chief guide had written for rooms. 
In consultation with Shimidzu the commander had 
arranged the rest of the trip to Nagasaki. The Blan- 
chita was sent to sea at once, with instructions to 
proceed to the southward as far as Cape Mono, and 
by the interior sea to Kumamoto, where it would take 
on board the passengers, and convey them to Nagasaki. 
The pilot declared that he was perfectly familiar with 
the route, having run a steamer to the city named. 
The tourists were to go by railroad, as it would enable 
them to see a portion of the island of Kyushu. 

The company breakfasted at the hotel. There was 
nothing of interest in the place unless it was the fort. 
In 1863, when the various provinces were governed 
by petty chiefs, the Dairnyo ordered the fort, without 
the authority of the general government, to fire upon 
American, French, and Dutch vessels. Reparation 
was demanded and refused for this outrage. The 
three injured nations, with England, sent a fleet of 
inen-of-war, bombarded and destroyed the fort, and 
then demanded an indemnity of three million dollars 
in silver, which Japan was compelled to pay. The 
United States returned the money received ; for the 
government of the nation had disavowed the outrage, 
and the country was then in an unsettled state. Its 
example 'was not followed by France and Holland. 

Using the day for rest at the hotel, for they were 


RAMBLES AMONG THE JAPANESE ISLANDS 295 


much fatigued after the voyage through the Inland 
Sea, the tourists crossed over to Moji the next morn- 
ing, and took the train for the south, seeing the towns 
on the way only from the windows of the compart- 
ments ; and early in the afternoon arrived at Kuma- 
moto, the chief town of the prefecture, and a city of 
53,000 inhabitants, the second largest in the island. 
It is situated on a river four miles from its mouth. 
The party had to go to a Japanese hotel, though they 
had “ foreign ” beds. Taking rickshaws, the tourists 
rode over the city, the principal object of interest 
being the celebrated fortress on an eminence, which 
played a part in the Satsuma Rebellion, and was 
bravely defended by General Tani ; and this victory 
was one of the events which led to the failure of that 
uprising. 

A very pretty park, once the garden of a great fam- 
ily, afforded a very fine view of the surrounding coun- 
try and of the Omura Gulf.. The dwarf azaleas and 
the peculiar knolls were attractive to the ladies. On 
their return to the hotel they found the pilot there, 
who had just arrived. The company were tired 
enough to sleep another night before leaving for 
Nagasaki; but the Blanchita sailed the next morn- 
ing at eight, and reached her final destination at five 
in the afternoon. The Bellevue was a foreign hotel, 
where rooms had been secured. After dinner the 
travellers were called upon to hear what Shimidzu 
had to say about the city. 

“This is not one of the largest cities of Japan, as 


296 


PACIFIC SHORES 


you may have been led to suppose because it is better 
known abroad than most of the others; and Murray 
is wrong in calling Kumamoto the most populous in 
Kyushu, for Nagasaki has two thousand more, accord- 
ing to his own figures,” the chief guide began. “It 
was a place of not much account till the sixteenth 
century, when the native Christians migrated to this 
part of the country in considerable numbers. Then it 
became the centre of the Portuguese trade. As you 
have learned before, the Portuguese and Spaniards 
were expelled from Japan in 1637. The Dutch and 
Chinese were permitted then to carry on a limited 
commerce here. 

“ The harbor is considered one of the prettiest in 
the world. It is a narrow inlet, not more than three 
miles in width, with many little bays, and surrounded 
with hills covered with woods. The present Settle- 
ment, as the territory occupied by the foreign resi- 
dents is called here as in Kobe and Yokohama, lies 
along the shore of the inlet, flanked by the pictu- 
resque slopes of the hills, where the handsome resi- 
dences of the merchants are located. 

“The native town extends for about two miles 
north of the Settlement. On the southwest side of 
the native quarter is the island of Deshima, in which 
the Dutch traders were shut up in former times. 
There are temples in Nagasaki, and you will cer- 
tainly visit what is known to foreigners as the 
Bronze-Horse Temple.” 

After another night’s sleep in the excellent beds of 


RAMBLES AMONG THE JAPANESE ISLANDS 297 

the Bellevue, the party were very bright the next 
morning; and as soon as breakfast was disposed of 
the rickshaws were at the door, and each section, 
with its own guide, departed on its mission to see 
the place. The party under the direction of Ma- 
chida rode along the shore, which was lined with 
warehouses. They saw the two steamers anchored 
comfortably in the harbor ; and they looked, as Miss 
Blanche declared, as though they were impatient to 
begin their long voyage to Australia. 

They next went through some of the streets where 
the people lived. The houses were generally Japan- 
ese, though some of them, with the piazzas on two or 
even three stories of the building, might have seemed 
more at home in the West Indies; but all were neat, 
and many of them pretty. The next sight was the 
temple, O’Suwa, which was on elevated ground, and 
reached by a long flight of broad stairs, with a stone 
lantern on- each side of the first step. It had a 
pretty garden, but the building would not excite the 
admiration of a skilled architect. In the courtyard 
was the celebrated Bronze Horse which gives its 
name to the temple, and it was a very good-looking 
animal. The view from the temple was very fine ; 
and the two steamers of the round-the-world com- 
pany could be distinctly made out, with the sailors 
of the Blanche taking on deck the Blanchita. 

The stores in the city are much like those of 
other Japanese towns, and so are the streets, except 
that some of them are provided with a sidewalk in 


298 


PACIFIC SHORES 


the middle instead of one at each side, as at other 
places where they have any at all. In the afternoon 
Machida’s party wandered about ©n the borders of 
Shimabara Gulf, which bounds the east side of the 
peninsula on which Nagasaki is situated, and into 
the country among the hills. On their way to the 
hotel they stopped at a photograph store, and pur- 
chased a supply of views for home. 

At the dinner-table the commander announced that 
the ships would sail at noon the following day. 


THE DEPARTURE FROM NAGASAKI 299 


CHAPTEK XXIX 

THE DEPARTURE FROM NAGASAKI 

The tourists were very much, pleased with Naga- 
saki and its vicinity, and even thought they should 
like to spend a week there ; but the commander 
declared that he must hasten on his voyage, or he 
should be unable to carry out the programme he had 
already arranged. 

“What day of the month is this ? ” he asked, as 
the party sat at the table after they had finished 
breakfast. 

“ June 10,” replied Felix, who in his capacity of 
captain’s clerk was obliged to keep the run of the 
dates. 

“We arrived at Yokohama May 14, and we have 
been in Japan twenty-four days,” continued the com- 
mander. “We have done something more than 
merely take a sample of Japan, though we have 
by no means exhausted the country. I have no 
doubt we could profitably spend three or even six 
months here, for there is much of the Empire that 
we have not visited. We have not been north of 
Tokyo ; we have not even seen the islands of Yezo ; 
and though we have looked upon the island of Shi- 
koku, we have not set foot upon its territory. Nikko 


300 


PACIFIC SHOPES 


is an interesting place, which is generally taken in 
by tourists ; but we have not been there. Its inter- 
est is largely in its mausoleums, with the tombs of 
its greatest Shoguns.” 

“I am glad we did not go there then,” said Mrs. 
Wool ridge. 

“There is much besides the tombs to be seen. 
But I think we have ‘done’ Japan very well, quite 
as thoroughly as we have most of the countries we 
have visited. We saw the principal cities of India 
proper, but we did less of it compared with its size 
than we have of Japan. I think we must be con- 
tent with what we have seen of this country ; and 
very likely some of you will come here again, for 
there is a great deal more than we have picked up 
to be learned about the country.” 

“ I think we had better look forward now rather 
than backward,” suggested Mrs. Belgrave. 

“The ships are coaling this morning, and they 
will be ready to sail precisely at twelve o’clock,” 
said Captain Ringgold. “ I have sent word to Mr. 
Sage to have dinner ready in the cabin at the usual 
hour.” 

“ How far is it to the first place at which we stop, 
Captain Ringgold ? ” asked Miss Blanche. 

“ I calculated the distance to Brisbane, in Queens- 
land, Australia, approximately, at 3,312 sea-miles, 
hardly farther than from New York to Southampton, 
Miss Blanche. It is not a very long voyage ; and 
most of the time on the way you will see islands to 


THE DEPARTURE FROM NAGASAKI 301 

break the monotony a little,” replied the commander, 
with the smile which decorated every gentleman’s 
face when he spoke to the beautiful maiden. 

“ How long will it take us to go there ? ” inquired 
Mrs. Blossom. 

“ Of course I cannot tell you exactly, for the time 
depends upon the wind and weather at sea; we may 
have a typhoon, and ” — 

“ Oh, I hope not ! ” exclaimed the “ first lady.” 

“It is not the right season for them, and I don’t 
think we shall have one ; but we are liable to gales 
and fogs. If we have favorable weather, I shall ex- 
pect to make the passage in about ten days ; but you 
cannot depend upon the time.” 

After breakfast Captain Ringgold, assisted by his 
clerk, settled with the pilot and the guides ; and to 
each of them he added what Felix called in his 
mother’s vernacular a “ grahtooitee.” They had all 
served very faithfully ; and the passengers had be- 
come much attached to them, even including the 
pilot, of whom they had seen far less than of the 
guides. They were all very well satisfied with their 
compensation, and were rather extravagant in their 
expressions of gratitude to the captain. The passen- 
gers, even those who were the least demonstrative, 
were sorry to part with the guides, and spoke in the 
kindest manner to them. But they were not to say 
adieu just yet, for the whole five insisted upon going 
on board with their charge. 

The Blanchita was no longer available ; for she was 


302 


PACIFIC S HOFFS 


resting from her labors quietly on the skids upon the 
promenade deck of the Blanche, and a tug-boat had 
been employed to put the company and their baggage 
on board of the ships. The guides were even more 
attentive than usual, and conveyed the valises and 
hand-bags of the passengers to their staterooms. 
The commander had given the order to “ heave short 
the anchor ” as soon as he came on board. The tug 
was about to leave for the shore, and the final adieus 
to the guides were spoken at the gangway as they 
went on board of her. 

Mr. Lobley, the pilot who had been engaged at 
Yokohama, and who had taken the Blanchita through 
the waters of Japan, was to serve in his office till the 
Guardian-Mother had passed Cape Nomo, and was 
to return with the pilot of the Blanche. The order 
had been given to Mr. Boulong to heave up the an- 
chor, the tug had departed, and the passengers on 
the promenade deck were waving their adieus with 
hats and handkerchiefs to the guides. 

“ Ring one bell, quartermaster,” said the com- 
mander, when “ anchor aweigh ” had been reported 
to him. 

The order to hoist up the gangway had been given, 
and the hands had manned the purchase to do so, 
when a well-dressed gentleman, with a valise, which 
seemed from his movements to be very heavy, jumped 
down from the rail, falling all in a heap from the 
weight of his baggage. Mr. Gaskette, who was in 
charge of the work, politely assisted him to his feet. 


THE DEPARTURE FROM NAGASAKI 303 


He thanked the officer in a very gentlemanly manner, 
and then nsked for Captain Ringgold. 

The officers of both ships and the gentlemen pas- 
sengers had received invitations to make themselves 
at home at the Nagasaki Club, and many of them 
had availed themselves of the privilege. In its pleas- 
ant apartments they had made the acquaintance of 
many of the merchants, consuls, and bank-officers 
of the city. Mr. Gaskette had been to this club ; and 
he thought he had seen the gentleman who boarded 
the ship at the last moment, but he did not recognize 
him. He informed him that the commander was in 
the pilot-house, and directed him where to find it. 

But the stranger seemed to be in no hurry to meet 
the captain, and seated himself in an armchair in 
Conference Hall. 

“ Did you find the captain, sir ? ” asked the second 
officer, as he came forward from his duty aft. 

“ As the steamer is getting under way, I concluded 
that he must be very busy, and that I would not dis- 
turb him at this moment,” replied the visitor. 

“ Pardon me, sir, but the ship is going to sea, and 
if you belong in Nagasaki you may find it difficult to 
get back to the city,” suggested Mr. Gaskette. 

“ I am aware that the ship is going to sea,” an- 
swered the stranger, apparently not at all disturbed 
by the fact. "I will see the captain as soon as he 
is at liberty.” 

“ Excuse me, sir, but I think I have seen you be- 
fore,” said the second officer, who had looked the 


304 


PACIFIC SHORES 


gentleman over more thoroughly than at first. 
“ Perhaps it was at the Nagasaki Club, but I had 
not the pleasure of an introduction.” 

“ I am a member of the club, and I am there every 
evening. I have met and made the acquaintance of 
Captain Ringgold,” replied the visitor, as he presented 
his card to the officer. 

“Mr. A. Greenlake,” said Mr. Gaskette, reading 
the name from the card. “ I am happy to know you, 
Mr. Greenlake. The ship is fairly under way now, 
and I will inform the captain that you are waiting 
to see him.” 

The second officer was mystified by the appearance 
of the gentleman at this inopportune time, and he 
thought the commander ought to see him at once. 
He was talking with Mr. Boulong when the officer 
delivered his message. 

“Waiting to see me!” exclaimed the captain. 
“ Does he know that we are going to sea ? ” 

“ He does, sir ; for I told him so.” 

“Is he going to Australia with us ?” 

“I don’t know where he is going; but here is his 
card, and he is a member of the Nagasaki Club, where 
he has met you,” answered Mr. Gaskette ; and he 
handed the card to the captain. 

“ Greenlake ! I met him at the club, and he called 
upon me at the hotel. He is an officer or clerk in 
some bank, I don’t remember which one. I will see 
him in the chart-room if you will show him in, Mr. 
Gaskette.” 



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TO HIS FEET 

Page 304 



THE DEPARTURE FROM NAGASAKI 305 

The commander passed through into his room, and 
then into the chart-room, where the second officer 
soon presented the visitor, carrying his heavy valise 
in his hand, which struck the floor with a thud, and 
something like a rattle, the captain thought. 

“ I am very glad to meet you again, Captain Ring- 
gold,” said the bank-officer, advancing with extended 
hand, which was taken by the captain, though not 
pressed with any great cordiality ; for he was a reader 
of faces, and he had not been prejudiced in his favor 
when he met him at the club. 

“ I owe you an apology, Captain Ringgold, for this 
abrupt intrusion on board of your steamer ; and I hope 
you will pardon it when I have explained the reason 
for it,” continued the visitor when they had spoken a 
few introductory words, and feeling very vigorously 
in various pockets of his garments. 

“ But, Mr. Greenlake, we are likely to take you 
over three thousand miles from Nagasaki before we 
have an opportunity to land you,” protested the 
captain. 

“ But you are bound just where I wish to go,” 
added the bank-officer, producing after much search 
a letter whose envelope was covered with postage- 
stamps — enough to gladden the heart of a collector. 
“ It was only this morning that I received this letter 
from my brother in Sydney. It informs me of the 
sudden death of my father at our home in Parramatta, 
thirteen miles from the city, and implores me to 
come home at the earliest possible moment, for my 


306 


PACIFIC SHORES 


presence is required, as I am the eldest son ; ” and 
he tendered the letter to the captain, who glanced at 
it, but did not readmit through ; and he thought the 
ink was hardly dry on the sheet. 

“ It is very unfortunate that you are this great 
distance from home at the occurrence of the sad 
event,” said the commander. 

“ It is very unfortunate, especially as I am ex- 
pected to pay off a mortgage on my father’s estate, 
and for which I have the money with me ; and its 
foreclosure would subject my mother to absolute 
poverty,” said the unhappy son, as he tossed the 
letter and its envelope on the table. 

“ But your brother is at home,” suggested the 
listener. 

“ He is an invalid, and not worth a shilling in the 
world. I have a very good position in the bank here, 
and I send more than half of my salary to my mother 
by bill every month. Now, my dear sir, I must get 
home at once, or my father’s estate will be sacrificed. 
The only regular conveyance from here is by the way 
of Batavia and Thursday Island to Sydney, and it 
might be two months before I got home if I went 
that way. You said at the club last night that you 
should sail at noon to-day, and you will be in Sydney 
iii a fortnight or less ; and I determined to throw 
myself upon your mercy in this sad extremity, and 
beg you to take me as a passenger, for which I will 
pay any price you please,” said Mr. Greenlake, dis- 
playing no little emotion, and even shedding tears. 


THE DEPARTURE FROM NAGASAKI 307 


“ I do not take passengers ; but this seems to be 
a very exceptional case,” replied the commander. “ I 
will consult my owner and his mother, and see you 
again in a few minutes ; ” and he left the room. 

Mrs. Belgrave and her son were seated with the 
Woolridges at the stern of the ship, observing the 
scenery of the narrow bay and the receding city. 
The captain stated the case of the bank-officer very 
briefly ; and the “ first lady ” and her son were full 
of sympathy for the unfortunate gentleman, readily 
acceding to his desire for a passage to Sydney. 

The captain informed the unexpected passenger 
that the owner and his mother granted his wish, and 
then rang the bell for a steward. When Sparks ap- 
peared he was directed to take the gentleman and his 
valise to stateroom No. 13, and have a place for him 
at the table. 

“ This is heavy,” said Sparks with a grin, as he 
picked up the valise. 

“ It contains the money to pay off the mortgage ; 
and I had to pick up gold and Bank of England notes 
for the purpose, or I should have come aboard before 
the last mihute,” Mr. Greenlake explained to the 
commander, as he followed the steward out of the 
room. 

He had left the letter and the envelope with many 
stamps on the table where he had thrown it, not 
thinking of it again in his nervous condition. The 
captain picked them up. The envelope had the Syd- 
ney postmark upon it, as well as those of Batavia, 


308 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Hong-Kong, and Yokohama; but. the date of the Chi- 
nese stamp was more than a month old, and it was 
evident that the letter to the bank-officer had not 
come to him in that enclosure. He had noticed be- 
fore that the ink of the letter had a very fresh look, 
and had thought from the first that something was 
wrong about the passenger, though he could not sur- 
mise what it was. There was something about the 
man that he did not like, and had not liked at the club 
and the hotel. But the passenger was on board, and 
the ship fifteen miles from Nagasaki. It was not 
proper to land him on the rocky shore, even if he 
had been assured that the gentleman was not all 
right, as he certainly was not. It was time for the 
pilot to leave the ship ; and the Blanche had stopped 
her screw half a mile ahead, with Cape Nomo on the 
port. 

The pilot of the other ship was headed for the 
Guardian-Mother in a large sampan under sail. Mr. 
Lobley, the pilot of the Blanchita, walked aft with 
the captain to make his final adieus to the passengers. 
When this had been done, he came to the rope ladder 
put over the rail for his descent to the sampan. 

“ Did you notice that steamer astern of you, Cap- 
tain Ringgold ? ” asked the pilot. “ She is off Taka- 
shima, and within six miles of you.” 

“ I saw her; but she has no business with me,” 
replied the captain, as he glanced at the approaching 
vessel. 

“ I suppose not; but that is not the Loo Choo 


THE DEPARTURE EROM NAGASAKI 309 


boat, which is smaller. That is one of the larger 
steamers of the Nippon Yusen company, perhaps the 
one which has just come in from Yokohama. I won- 
der what she is doing down here, for this is not the 
course for any steamer bound to Shang-hai.” 

The screw had been stopped by this time, and the 
sampan came alongside. Mr. Lobley shook hands 
with the captain, and went over the side. The gong 
rang again, and the Guardi an -Mother went ahead at 
full speed. The commander watched the steamer 
astern, which the pilot thought was one of the better 
steamers of the Japan company. 


310 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XXX 

THE LAST OF THE UNEXPECTED PASSENGER 

The pilot had left the steamer, which was now go- 
ing ahead at fourteen knots an hour, her usual rate, 
to which she was so much accustomed that it seemed 
hardly possible for her to go any slower or any 
faster. Keeping Cape Nomo over the stern, the 
course was made due south, as soon as the land bore 
in that direction, for the next three hours, till the 
large island of Koshihi was made out. The com- 
mander had faithfully studied his chart, and knew 
just where to find all the numerous islands that lay 
in the course of the ship. 

The quartermaster in the pilot-house had struck 
one bell about the time the pilot left the ship; and 
at eight bells, or four in the afternoon, the course 
was changed to southeast by south, which would 
take her a safe distance to the northeast of the 
islands ahead. The weather was bright and clear, 
and the land was seen over the starboard bow in 
due time. 

Captain Ringgold had given hardly a thought to 
the steamer which had been seen over the stern, till 
he had changed the course the last time, when his 
curiosity to ascertain where she was bound caused 


LAST OF THE UNEXPECTED PASSENGER 311 

him to go aft, and look at her through his glass. 
Very much to his surprise he saw that she had 
changed her course, and was evidently on the pre- 
cise one of the Guardian-Mother. The pilot had 
expressed the opinion that she could not be the 
Loo Choo boat ; for she was too large, and the cap- 
tain had found in his Murray that the boat for 
these islands sailed from a more southern port than 
Nagasaki. 

“ That steamer seems to be following us, Cap tain,” 
said Mr. Boulong, who was planking the deck, for 
Mr. Gaskette had the watch. “ More than that, she 
seems to be hurrying herself to the best of her abil- 
ity ; for the black smoke is pouring out of her funnel 
as though she ‘ meant business/ ” 

“ I don’t understand it,” replied the commander, 
whose expression indicated that he was puzzled. 

“ Have we left any passenger on shore, or has any 
customs law been forgotten when we sailed, sir ? ” 
asked the first officer. 

“ I don’t think any passenger has been left be- 
hind ; but it is possible, though that can be soon 
ascertained,” answered the captain. “ Felix,” he 
called to his clerk. 

The Milesian touched his cap to the commander, 
and was directed to look the passengers over, and 
ascertain if any of them had been left behind. The 
company formed a compact body when they were 
on the point of leaving a place, and especially when 
they were on the eve of a long voyage, and it did 


312 


PACIFIC SHORES 


not appear possible that any of them could have 
been left. Felix presently reported all present, and 
seated on the deck. 

The gentleman who had boarded the ship at the 
last moment, and told such a sad story of his family, 
had dined with the passengers in the cabin. Mr. 
Boulong reported, in answer to the captain’s inquiry, 
that he had been on deck since the ship had passed 
the islands. He had gone aft, and had spoken to 
some of the company. Louis was sent for, and said 
that Mr. Greenlake had spoken to some of them, 
and had mentioned the steamer over the stern. He 
had observed her with apparent interest. Louis had 
asked what steamer it was, but he replied that he 
did not know. 

Then, for the first time, the commander wondered 
if the strange steamer was not in some manner con- 
nected with the presence on board of the unexpected 
passenger. 

“We are gaining on that steamer, Captain King- 
gold,” said the first officer. “ She seems to be aware 
of the fact, and she is making more black smoke than 
ever.” 

“ I am not a little perplexed about the situation,” 
added the captain, as he led the way into the chart- 
room. “ It has just come into my head that the 
passenger who came on board without any invitation 
just as we were getting under way is in some man- 
ner connected with the approach of that steamer ; ” 
and he related to Mr. Boulong all he knew about 


LAST OF THE UNEXPECTED PASSENGER 313 

the gentleman, reading the letter he had left on the 
table, and exhibiting the envelope with the incon- 
sistent postmark upon it. 

“ Then, you think there is something crooked about 
him ? ” suggested the first officer. 

“ I don’t say there is, but I have my suspicions,” 
replied the commander. “ He has a valise which 
Sparks said was very heavy; and Greenlake volun- 
teered the statement that it contained the money to 
pay off a mortgage on his father’s estate in Aus- 
tralia.” 

“ He may have robbed a bank, or done something 
of that kind,” Mr. Boulong ventured to remark. 

“ That idea occurred to me ; and I don’t care to 
carry off a thief of any kind.” 

“ The only way to settle the question is to ring 
the speed-bell, and let the chaser overhaul us,” said 
the second officer. 

“ I was thinking of doing that ; but slowing down 
will alarm the rogue, if he is a rogue. He knows 
that the money in his valise would convict him ; and 
he might throw it overboard rather than allow it to 
expose him, or if he saw that he had come to the 
end of his rope, he might jump overboard himself, 
for he is a person of gentlemanly instincts, and sui- 
cide is the final resort of such villains. Then, slow- 
ing down will lead the passengers to inquire why 
it is done ; and if Greenlake is all right, I have no 
desire to injure him.” 

“ Let the chief engineer find the excuse for slow- 


314 


PACIFIC SHOKES 


ing down,” suggested Mr. Boulong. “ Mr. Shafter 
was walking on deck just now.” 

“ Call him if you please.” 

He was called in, and was willing to find the ex- 
cuse without asking any questions. He would stop 
the engine for a few minutes to do something to 
the machine, and go ahead at half speed. He was 
instructed to do so, and returned to the engine-room. 

Felix, who had done the detective work of the 
ship in Egypt, was called again ; and the situation 
was explained to him in full. He was instructed to 
watch Greenlake, and be sure that he did not throw 
himself or his valise overboard, or make way with 
himself in any other manner. He was authorized 
to call in any one or two persons to assist him, and 
to make his own selection. Having provided for any 
emergency, the commander felt relieved, and left the 
chart-room, while Mr. Boulong went into the pilot- 
house. By the time Felix reached the after-cabin 
with Scott, whom he had chosen as his assistant, the 
screw was stopped, and did not turn again for about 
five minutes. 

When the amateur detective came into the cabin, 
he found the door of stateroom No. 13 wide open, 
and Mr. Greenlake was not in it. He looked in to 
assure himself that his charge was not there ; and see- 
ing the valise on the floor, he had the curiosity to 
lift it, and found that it was still very heavy. The 
next room was No. 12 ; and in that he placed Scott, 
telling him to keep his ears wide open. Then Felix 


LAST OF THE UNEXPECTED PASSENGER 315 

wished to know where Greenlake was, and opened the 
door into the study, library, or schoolroom, which 
was the aftermost apartment on the main deck. 

He found that his man was at one of the stern 
ports of the ship, evidently watching the movements 
of the Japanese steamer. He had seen her from the 
promenade deck, and perhaps he might have had 
some interest in her mission in these waters at just 
this time. The ship had stopped her screw, and was 
rolling slightly in the uneven tide of the Pacific. 
Greenlake was nervous ; and when Felix had gone into 
the main cabin, he left his place at the port, wandered 
up and down the study for a minute or two, and then 
went out. 

“Can you tell me, young man, if you please, why 
the steamer has stopped ?” he asked Felix, who was 
the first person he saw. 

“The cumigun pin dropped out, and they had to 
stop the engine to put it back j but she will go ahead 
again in a few minutes,” replied the detective, invent- 
ing the name of the pin which had dropped out. 

“ Thank you,” replied Greenlake, as he returned 
to the study, where he again took his place at the 
port. 

Even if the bank official was not an expert in mar- 
itime matters, he could not help observing that the 
Guardian-Mother was not moving at more than half 
speed. The chaser was going much faster, and the 
captain thought she was making thirteen knots. At 
any rate, she was overhauling the American steamer 


316 


PACIFIC SHORES 


very rapidly. A little later the anxious passenger 
could make out the flag of Japan, a white ground 
with a red ball upon it. Whatever he saw, imagined, 
or reasoned out, he had evidently become desperate ; 
for he could not hold still, and his whole frame seemed 
to be in a tremor. Felix had seated himself at a table 
in the study, and was turning the leaves of a book, as 
though he was looking for something ; but his vision 
covered Greenlake all the time. 

The Japanese steamer was within a cable’s length 
of the American, which had again stopped her engine 
at the sound of the gong, rung by the commander. 
Greenlake opened the port where he had been looking 
out, for the wrench hung near it, and then retreated 
in haste from the room. He had come to some decis- 
ion, and rushed into his stateroom, closing the door 
after him. Felix blew his rickshaw whistle, the sig- 
nal agreed upon for Scott to appear. 

The detective did not pause a moment, but opened 
the door of the room. Greenlake was just coming 
out with his valise in his hand ; and the Milesian 
concluded that he intended to drop the heavy con- 
tents overboard through the port he had opened. He 
stepped up in front of him as Scott took his place at 
his side. 

“The captain does not allow any baggage to be 
taken from the staterooms,” said he. 

“ It is my own, and I suppose I have a right to do 
what I please with it,” replied the bank official, mak- 
ing a movement to pass the young men. 


LAST OF THE UNEXPECTED PASSENGER 317 

No, sir ; you will please to return to your room ; ” 
and the two crowded him back into it. 

“ What does this mean ? ” demanded Greenlake, 
throwing the valise upon the bed, and taking a bunch 
of keys from his pocket, as though he intended to 
open it; but he was not permitted to do so. 

The fugitive, as it was plain enough that he was by 
this time, repeated his question. Felix replied that 
he was an officer of the ship, and he obeyed the cap- 
tain’s orders. The two young men were prepared to 
fall upon and confine the man if he resisted ; and the 
detective believed he had weapons of some kind in 
the valise. He was a slender person, and could have 
crowded himself through the open port; and Felix 
had been directed not to permit him to throw the j 
money or himself overboard. He took a knife from 
his pocket; but it was wrested from him the instant 
it was seen, and he was thrown upon the bed and held 
there. 

The Japanese steamer had stopped and backed her 
screw, and dropped a boat into the water as soon as 
she lost her headway. The gangway of the Guardian- 
Mother had been lowered, and two gentlemen with 
three Japanese policemen came on board. Captain 
Ringgold was at hand to receive the gentlemen, and 
politely welcomed them. 

“ I am sorry to have delayed you, and caused you 
so much trouble, Captain Ringgold,” said one of the 
gentlemen. 

“ Don’t mention it, Mr. Gardley,” replied the com- 


318 


PACIFIC SHORES 


mander, who had met the gentleman at the club; 
and he was the president or manager of one of the 
banks of Nagasaki. “ I think I understand the 
purpose of your visit; and if you will come into 
the cabin, I will put you in the way of carrying 
out your object.” 

The party followed him ; and the captain conducted 
them to No. 13, where they found Felix and Scott 
holding Greenlake down upon the bed. The Japanese 
policemen relieved them of their charge, and without 
any ceremony put handcuffs upon his wrists. 

“ I am ruined, Mr. Gardley, and it is useless for me 
to say anything,” groaned Greenlake. 

“ His valise is very heavy, sir; and we have pre- 
vented him from opening it since your steamer came 
near,” said Felix. 

“ It ought to be heavy ; for it must contain five 
thousand pounds in gold, besides as much more 
in Bank of England notes,” replied the manager. 
“ Where are the keys, Greenlake ? ” 

The valise was opened, and the first thing Felix 
saw was a revolver on top of the clothing. The gold 
was in rolls, which the second gentleman counted, 
and said was all right; and the same proved to be 
true of the notes. He retained possession of the 
valise and the keys, while the police marched their 
prisoner to the deck. 

“ I was afraid we should not overtake you, Captain 
Ringgold ; and we should not if you had not slowed 
down ; and I am under very great obligations to you 



Felix stepped up in fkont of him 


Page 318 









ft •«,.» • - — — ' “ • ' 


\ • 


















LAST OF THE UNEXPECTED PASSENGER 319 

for assisting me in this matter,” said Mr. Gardley, as 
they went on deck. 

They seated themselves for a few minutes in the 
chart-room. The manager said the loss of the money 
had been discovered when they opened the bank at 
ten o’clock, and at the same time discovered the ab- 
sence of Greenlake. 

“ We called in the police ; and the chief, who is 
with us, gave his personal attention to the matter. 
The boatman was found who had put him on board 
of your ship. We obtained the use of the steamer in 
which we followed you. We should not have suc- 
ceeded if you had not favored us; and the bank is 
under very great obligations to you, Captain, which 
the directors will acknowledge in due time in New 
York,” the manager explained. 

The commander declared that he had performed 
only a simple duty ; and said he had suspected some- 
thing was wrong about his unexpected passenger as 
soon as he made out that the Japanese steamer 
was following him. He stated his fears, and what 
he had done to prevent the criminal from throwing 
the money overboard, and from committing suicide. 
After all was explained on both sides, the party 
went to the gangway, where the captain was intro- 
duced to the chief of police, and commended him for 
his skilful work. The prisoner had already been 
placed in the boat, the visitors shook hands with the 
captain and the two amateur detectives, descended 
the gangway, and their boat shoved off. 


320 


PACIFIC SHORES 


As soon as the gangway was hoisted up, the gong 
sounded, and the Guardian-Mother resumed her voy- 
age. Of course the passengers wanted to know what 
had happened, and the whole story was repeated to 
them by the captain and Felix. 

The next morning the ship was out of sight of 
land, and to the eastward of the Loo Choo Islands, 
of which the captain said Mr. Bel grave would speak 
in Conference Hall at ten o’clock. 


DROUGHTS AND FLOODS OF AUSTRALIA 321 


CHAPTER XXXI 

THE DROUGHTS AND FLOODS OF AUSTRALIA 

It was a gentle breeze and a smooth sea which 
greeted the passengers of the Guardian-Mother when 
they came on deck, the following morning. The ship 
was in latitude 28° N., and longitude 152° E., about 
the same parallel as the central part of Florida, 
where oranges and pineapples grow and ripen. The 
course southeast by south had been given out, on 
which the ship was to sail till she made the coast 
of New Guinea, at Dampier Strait, which separates 
it from the island of New Britain. 

“ This is not the hurricane or typhoon season, and 
we have a very mild sea to-day,” said Captain Ring- 
gold, as the party seated themselves at the breakfast- 
table the next morning. “We cannot predict with 
accuracy what the weather will be, and we are out of 
the sphere of ‘ Old Prob : ’ but we can tell something 
about it, and it is possible that we shall have just 
this kind of a sea and wind all the way to our des- 
tination ; but no promises can be made, and we must 
take the weather as it conies.” 

The company were in excellent spirits ; and after 
twenty-four days on shore it was quite a change to 
be at sea again, and all of them felt at home once 


322 


PACIFIC SHORES 


more. They walked the promenade deck, and were 
happy. Though there were islands all around them, 
no land could be seen even with the glasses, several 
of which were always within their command. At 
the appointed hour they were all seated in the arm- 
chairs of Conference Hall, and were glad to be there 
again. The siamangs were in attendance, and ap- 
peared to be very happy to be in the presence of the 
party once more. It was seen that Miss Mingo had 
grown perceptibly, and all of them had been well 
cared for by the sailors. Louis Belgrave was an- 
nounced by the commander as the speaker of the 
occasion ; and he took his place on the rostrum, and 
after a little speech in regard to the reassembling of 
the company, he struck into his subject. 

“ I shall not detain you, my friends, more than ten 
minutes ; for the subject of to-day is not a large one. 
West of us are the Loo Choo Islands, which you 
can see only with the eye of faith. We have been 
within fifty or sixty miles of some of them, but the 
nearest one just now is over a hundred miles distant. 
There are thirty-seven of them, extending in a south- 
westerly direction from the southern point of Japan. 
The largest of them are Oshima and Okinawa. They 
have 1,863 square miles of territory ; and the inhab- 
itants have the language, manners, and customs of 
the Japanese, and are Shintoists in religion. The 
men do not shave the hair, as is the custom in 
Japan, but pin it at the crown, and wear a star in 
front. The women tattoo the hands, for what reason 


DROUGHTS AND FLOODS OF AUSTRALIA 328 


I do not know, and cannot guess. In the few towns 
the streets are paved with stone ; and the houses are 
enclosed by walls ten or twelve feet high, so that 
the visitor feels as though he was in the midst of a 
collection of tombs. Each town has a market-place, 
but no shops. The food of the inhabitants is mainly 
sweet potatoes, pork, and fish. It is the fashion for 
each family to keep, a pig. Sugar is largely raised, 
and the sago-palm thrives, as well as an aromatic 
orange. A breed of small ponies is found on the is- 
lands. There are no good harbors there, and our ship 
could not find a landing-place very near any town. 
That is all you need to know about the Loo Choos, 
as we are not going to any of them,” Louis con- 
cluded, and stepped down from the rostrum with his 
graceful bow. 

On the fourth day out the commander informed 
the passengers that three hundred miles to the east- 
ward of the course were the Ladrone Islands, as 
they are called, after the Spanish word, which means 
thieves. They were discovered by Magellan in 1521 ; 
and his sailors called the thieving inhabitants la- 
drones , or thieves, and the islands took the name 
from this circumstance. They belong to Spain, and 
the official name is the Mariana Islands. They pro- 
duce corn, cotton, tobacco, sugar, and indigo. The 
people are nominally Christians, but there is no re- 
straint upon immorality and vice. The inhabitants 
have diminished from 60,000 to 8,700. The largest 
island has an area of about 200 square miles. 


324 


PACIFIC SHORES 


The sea continued to be quite smooth, and the voy- 
age would have become very monotonous if the visits 
between the two steamers had not been renewed. 
The Italian band played, and the games were re- 
sumed as when they were introduced off the coast 
of Java. A portion of every day was given to the 
studies of the young people. On the fifth day 
the ships were among the Caroline Islands, one of 
the most western groups of Polynesia, with the Pe- 
lew Islands west of them. 

“ In our library I cannot find anything about Prince 
Le Boo, of whom I have read in former years, though 
I cannot remember much about him. I think he was 
the son of the chief of the Pelews, who sent him to 
England to be educated there, that he might be a 
missionary to his own people,” said the commander, 
as the party were seated in Conference Hall, where 
they often gathered to observe what was to be seen 
from the deck. “ I believe he caught the small-pox 
in London, and died there, so that his people lost the 
benefit of his preaching. But he was represented as 
a very pious young man, and one of the best examples 
of the fruit of missionary labor.” 

“ There are several islands just ahead of us on the 
right,” said Mrs. Belgrave, as she pointed over the 
starboard bow. 

“ Those are the Philip group, belonging to the Caro- 
lines. They are too small to be of any account. 
Towards night we shall pass quite near to the Kamal 
group. The Carolines extend east and west over 


DROUGHTS AND FLOODS OF AUSTRALIA 325 

twelve hundred miles, and all of them make but 560 
square miles. They have a population of 36,000. 
The people are gentle, amiable, and intelligent; and 
the men are well-built and strong, and make good 
sailors. They do a considerable business in the 
manufacture of copra, which is the meat of the cocoa- 
nut, broken into small pieces and dried in the sun, 
from which cocoanut oil is made; and the Germans 
import a thousand tons of it annually.’’ 

Towards evening the party had a near view of sev- 
eral small islands, which interested them very much. 
On the seventh day they came in sight of the Admi- 
ralty Islands, as they were formerly called, which have 
been annexed by Germany, and, with several of the 
neighboring groups, are now the Bismarck Archipel- 
ago. Of those sighted, one was fifty miles long, while 
the others were small. On the eighth day the ships 
passed through Dampier Strait, which is about thirty- 
five miles wide ; and they could see the coast of New 
Guinea in the distance on one side, and the island of 
New Britain on the other, though now, since the Ger- 
mans took possession of it, it is New Pomerania. The ' 
interior is almost unknown. The natives are canni- 
bals, crafty, and unreliable. 

On the ninth day, off the eastern cape of New 
Guinea, the course was changed to south half east; 
and the ships were soon out of sight of land. The 
northern part of the great island soon lay to the 
westward of them, and the commander thought it 
was time for the professor to give his lecture on Aus- 


326 


PACIFIC SHORES 


tralia. On the tenth day out he announced that the 
learned gentleman would speak at nine o’clock; and 
at this hour the passengers were assembled to hear 
it, including the party from the Blanche, who had 
come on board half an hour before, for not a little 
kissing and handshaking had to be done before any- 
thing else could be accomplished; 

“ Ladies and gentlemen,” said Professor Giroud, 
after he had been properly introduced by the com- 
mander, “ it is a very large subject with which I 
have to deal ; and if I should say all that might be 
said about this great island, the largest in the world, 
properly a continent, I should utterly wear you out, 
physically and mentally; and therefore I shall take 
the liberty to omit all I can conscientiously. Mr. 
Gaskette has given us an excellent map, and you can 
see from it that the great island lies between 10° N. 
and 40° S. latitude. The longitude is from 113° to 
153° E. A point south of the western part would be 
the antipode of New York.” 

“ What does that mean ? ” asked Mrs. Blossom. 

.“If you should bore a hole through the earth in a 
straight line, and then crawl through the hole, you 
would come out at New York.” 

“ Goodness sake alive ! I don’t think I shall do 
that,” protested the good lady. 

“I recommend you not to attempt it. The area 
of the great island is about 3,000,000 square miles, or 
half a million less than the United States, including 
Alaska, or about the same without it. The island of 


DROUGHTS AND FLOODS OF AUSTRALIA 327 

Tasmania, formerly called Van Diemen’s Land, con- 
tains 26,215 square miles, and is nearly as large as 
Maine, and a little larger than West Virginia. Aus- 
tralia is twenty-five times as large as Great Britain 
and Ireland, and only a quarter less than all Europe. 

“ As you survey the map before you, you see a con- 
siderable number of comparatively small rivers in the 
north, northeast, and west of the island flowing into 
the sea, and that the great tangle of the rivers is in 
the southeast. A noticeable feature is that no rivers 
flow from the interior to the sea. There is but one 
great river in the island, the Murray, whose principal 
tributary is the Darling. Again, you observe that 
the Blue Mountains, the only considerable range, lie 
near the east coast; and both the Murray and the 
Darling proceed direct, or by smaller tributaries, from 
this range. 

“ There are plenty of fivers, and some of them are 
navigable. There are numerous lakes all over the 
island, especially in the south ; though none of them 
are on the scale of those in America. The highest 
mountains are Kosciusko, 7,308 feet, and Ben Lo- 
mond, 5,000 feet. Time does not permit me to say 
more about the rivers ; and the geology I will omit 
entirely, though all these subjects would be interest- 
ing to some of you. 

“ There are gold-mines of greater or less impor- 
tance in all the colonies of Australia, but the princi- 
pal are in the eastern part. It is not many years 
since there was a tremendous immigration produced by 


328 


PACIFIC SHORES 


the discovery of the precious metal. Silver, copper, 
coal, iron, and lead are found, and in remunerative 
quantities. Some of the silver-mines are believed to 
be inexhaustible. The gold fever has abated, and is 
still declining; but gold has been mined in thirty- 
four years to the value of $1,300,000,000, and in 
1885 over $20,000,000 worth was produced. The 
mining industry of the colonies is of the greatest 
value, and is annually increasing. 

“ The greater portion of Australia lies within the 
south temperate zone, though what looks like nearly 
one-half of it is in the torrid zone. But as a whole 
it has an equable climate, subject to irregularities of 
droughts and floods. The rainfall of the island is 
very unequal, varying from fourteen inches up to 
eighty. The Blue Mountains are near the east coast, 
and they intercept the clouds charged with moisture. 
Sydney has an average of fifty inches ; while Bath- 
urst, less than a hundred miles west of it, but on the 
other side of the mountain, has only twenty-three 
inches. A considerable portion of the western half 
of the island is a desert. Its lakes and its rivers dry 
up in summer, and this is true to a great extent of 
all the country. Even the great river Murray is navi- 
gable only at certain seasons of the year. Other 
rivers are only a succession of pools. 

“ As an example of the fluctuations of different 
years, I will quote the changes in Lake George, about 
120 miles southwest of Sydney, and 2,260 feet above 
the sea : In 1824 it was twenty miles long and eight 


DROUGHTS AND FLOODS OF AUSTRALIA 329 

miles wide ; in 1837 the bottom was a grassy plain ; 
in 1865 the water was seventeen feet deep ; two years 
later it was only two feet deep; but in 1876 it was 
twenty miles long and twenty feet deep. It is not 
believed that these changes were produced by any 
subterranean connection, as such phenomena have 
been explained elsewhere in some cases. 

“ Of course these droughts and floods are a constant 
menace to the prosperity of the country. The former 
dry up the vegetation of immense tracts, so that the 
cattle perish for the want of water. It is said that 
10,000,000 sheep were destroyed in 1884. The tropi- 
cal regions of the north are subject to the same laws 
that prevail in other torrid regions of the earth ; they 
have a rainy season in summer, from November to 
April, and a dry one in winter, which includes the 
same months as our summer. But the perils to ani- 
mals from these dry times have to some extent been 
overcome by the use of storage basins, which are 
filled in the rainy season, when portions of the island 
are liable to terrible floods, inundating the country, 
and sometimes causing serious losses of property. 

“The vegetation of Australia is different from that 
of all other countries, having 10,000 species, more 
than the whole of Europe. The highlands produce 
the richest woods, and the trees are giants. The gum- 
trees of the Eucalyptus family grow to the height of 
250 feet, with a circumference of twelve to twenty 
feet. Forty miles east of Melbourne, in Victoria, 
many trees are 420 feet high, and one of 480 has 


330 


PACIFIC SHORES 


been measured. There is every variety of plants to 
be found, and it would be useless for me to attempt 
to describe them. 

“ The fauna of this continent is even more peculiar 
than the flora, as much in the absence as in the pres- 
ence of many animals. The marsupials are abundant 
here ; and they are not found in any other country, ex- 
cept in the single instance of the opossum of America, 
of which the negroes of Virginia and farther south 
are extremely fond for their Christmas dinners.” 

“ I am an ignorant woman, I know, Professor, but 
I don’t know what you are talking about,” interposed 
Mrs. Blossom. “ I don’t know what a marsupi — 
something is.” 

“ It means those animals which carry their young 
in pouches,” replied the learned gentleman with a 
smile. “ Do you know what a kangaroo is ? ” 

“ I do, and I have seen one ; she carries her little 
ones in a bag under her stomach.” 

“ That is one of the marsupials which carry their 
young in a pouch. In this island there are no mon- 
keys, antelopes, deer, elephants, rhinoceroses, pigs, 
cats, wolves, bears, hares, squirrels, or rabbits, and 
many other small animals that abound in England 
and America. The kangaroo may be five feet high, 
and weigh 200 pounds ; but there are different kinds 
of the same animal, down to the rat kangaroo. The 
native cats are marsupials. There is a flying fox, 
and a flying mouse that might lodge in a pill-box. 

“ I said there was no rabbit here. The govern- 


DROUGHTS AND FLOODS OF AUSTRALIA 331 

merit has favored the introduction of both animals 
and plants, and among the former the rabbit was 
brought over. The creature multiplied to such an 
extent that all the vegetation of the country was in 
danger of being eaten up ; and laws were enacted to 
suppress the nuisance, as the animal had become. 
The damage done by it was estimated at $15,000,000. 
New South Wales has employed 2,000 men in ex- 
terminating them, and Victoria has expended half a 
million dollars for the same purpose. 

“ But you must be weary of the sound of my voice 
by this time, and we will have a recess of half an 
hour/’ said the professor, as he stepped down from 
the rostrum. 


V 


332 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XXXII 

THE FLORA, FAUNA, AND NATIVES 

I have heard that story before about the rabbits,” 
said Mr. Woolridge, as he met Captain Ringgold on 
deck during the recess. “But I thought it was in 
New Zealand they made such havoc.” 

“ I believe it was there as well as in the big 
island,” replied the commander. 

“ You are quite right, gentlemen,” said the profes- 
sor. _ “ But I came to ask you, Captain, when we shall 
probably arrive at Brisbane.” 

“I have about concluded that we shall not arrive 
there at all,” replied the captain with a smile, as he 
observed the expression on the faces of the two pas- 
sengers. “ We shall be off Strad broke Island to-mor- 
row, and Brisbane lies inside of that. It is a city of 
75,000 inhabitants; but I think there is not much 
there to interest our company, and it will require 
some time for the ship to get there, and then go to 
sea again. It is better to continue on our course 
to Sydney.” 

“ I think that is a good idea,” added Mr. Wool- 
ridge. 

The question was canvassed among the passengers, 
who had been having a very pleasant time on the 


THE FLORA, FAUNA, AND NATIVES 333 

voyage, and were not tired of it, and the comman- 
der was confirmed in his intention. When the party 
had assembled again in Conference Hall, he announced 
his decision to omit Brisbane from the programme. 
The professor took his place again, and had some- 
thing more to say about the zoology of Australia, 
and then passed on to the birds'. 

“ The birds are not so peculiar and strange as the 
mammalia, but they excel those of other temperate 
climes for elegance of form and beauty of plumage. 
The parrots and cockatoos are splendid birds; but 
for oddity of form and brilliancy of feather, the 
regent-bird, rifle-bird, flycatcher, and lyre-bird are 
more interesting. The last named is perhaps the 
most curious. It looks in the body something like 
a peacock ; but instead of the spreading tail-feath- 
ers, it has two long and large feathers standing up 
so that they look like the lyre from which it takes 
its name. The flycatchers have one or two long tail- 
feathers ; but I have not time to describe all these 
birds, and I must refer you to Wood’s Natural His- 
tory for particulars ; and you will find the three 
volumes in the library. Australia has 650 distinct 
species of birds, while Europe has only 500. The 
emu and cassowary are something like the ostrich. 

“ The big island has 140 kinds of reptiles ; and if 
our snake Nimrod should wander over the island, he 
would find some game after his own heart, even in- 
cluding the cobra, for which he seems to have a 
deadly affinity. There are lizards here from four 


334 


PACIFIC SHOBES 


to six feet long. The family which takes in the 
cobras form two-thirds of the snakes of the island ; 
and all of them are poisonous, though the bite of 
only five of them is deadly. The black snake is 
from five to eight feet long. 

“Now we will pass from one brute creation to 
another ; for the aborigines here are the lowest type 
of humanity to be found in the world, and inferior to 
the Malays, Papuans, and negroes. They are not 
actually black, as usually represented, but of a dark 
coffee-brown color. In stature they are a trifle shorter 
than Europeans, but of a much more slender and feeble 
build. Their legs are like drumsticks ; for they have 
no calves, and may well be called ( spindleshanks,’ 
which is not a polite, but a very expressive word 
in this connection. The head is long and narrow, 
with a low brow receding backwards, as you see in 
the caricatures of idiots. The nose is narrow at the 
base, but expanding till it becomes snubby. The 
mouth is large and misshapen, the upper jaw project- 
ing over the lower, with a receding chin. But they 
have fine white teeth, which are the only beauty spots 
about them. The head and face are covered with a 
profusion of hair. They do not smell sweet at all 
naturally, and the odor is intensified by the fish-oil 
with which they anoint themselves. I do not believe 
any of the ladies will be in danger of falling in love 
with them. 

“ The intellect or the instinct of the native Austra- 
lian, call it which you please, seems to be of the 


THE FLORA, FAUNA, AND NATIVES 335 

grade of the canine and feline animals, and is ex- 
pended almost entirely in obtaining his food. Like 
the tiger and the wolf, he has peculiar ability ; and as 
a hunter he cannot be surpassed. In finding, track- 
ing, and running down his prey he seems to be equal 
to the wolf and the wildcat, though he has to supple- 
ment his natural forces with weapons of the rudest 
and most primitive kind. He exhibits some skill in 
culinary matters, and a glimmering of art in the pic- 
tures of sharks and lizards cut in the caves of the 
north and on the rocks in the south. 

“ Beyond, this limited circle all is a blank to the 
native. He has no idea of architecture or pottery, 
very little of weaving cloth, and he is the ideal 
heathen ; for he has no religion, certain superstitions 
being its substitute. He has sensations, but no sen- 
timents ; for they have not progressed far enough to 
reach them. The woman is as much his property and 
in the same sense as his boomerang or his dog.” 

A male child is highly valued ; and a father will la- 
ment the death of a son for months, as a cow will the 
loss of a calf for a less period. But old men and old 
women are abandoned without remorse. In summer 
the natives roam about the country naked, with no 
sense of shame whatever. Morality is limited to 
the idea of property ; wives being men’s chattels, 
and stealing them a punishable offence. 

“ The natives are generally called ‘ black fellows ; ’ 
and after all that has been said of them, they, or 
some of them, seem to be capable of affection and 


336 


PACIFIC SHORES 


gratitude, for they were kind and self-sacrificing in 
their relief of Burke and Willis, two of the first 
white men to cross this continent. Most of the expe- 
dition died of starvation ; but the remains of the lead- 
ers were removed to Melbourne, and statues erected 
to their memory. If the natives have often mur- 
dered white men, it has generally been when actuated 
by revenge for the atrocities of English convicts and 
other lawless Europeans. 

“ Where there are caves, as in some parts of the is- 
land, the natives live in them ; but they have no fixed 
habitations, and build only huts of twigs and bushes. 
They cover themselves with kangaroo skins in winter, 
and are surfeited in plenty at one time, and on the 
verge of starvation at another. They eat the flesh of 
all kinds of animals, and devour reptiles and insects. 
Their principal weapon is the boomerang, a flat stick 
three feet long, curved in the middle ; and when 
jerked by the skilled native, its course is zigzag, 
spiral, and circular, and usually comes back to the 
thrower. The word is sometimes used at home as a 
simile for an act which injures the perpetrator as 
well as his intended victim. They also have various 
other weapons and implements, as the stone-pointed 
spear and digging-stick. 

“ There is no government among the aborigines 
outside of the family, and no laws except traditions 
in relation to property. There are various dialects of 
a language in use by them, but it has few grammati- 
cal forms ; yet they learn English with considerable 


THE FLORA, FAUNA, AND NATIVES 387 

facility. It was estimated that the number of them 
when the country was first settled was about 150,000, 
but they are reduced to one-fifth of this number in 
the settled regions. Some of them are employed as 
stockmen and shepherds, but they generally stick to 
their wandering habits. 

“ When the island was first discovered is unknown, 
but it is asserted that Magellan’s followers sighted 
it in 1522. On a French chart of 1542 it is put 
down as 1 Jave la Grande ,’ or Great Java. The Dutch, 
especially Tasman, sailed in these waters in the sev- 
enteenth century ; and Dampier was the first English- 
man that set eyes upon it, in 1688. A century later 
Captain Cook explored a considerable portion of the 
coast. Several other navigators explored the coasts, 
and visited sections of the island during the following 
century. Explorations by sea and land have been con- 
tinued up to the present time, and accounts of them 
would be interesting if we had time to deal with them. 

“ The first British settlement was made at Botany 
Bay, just south of Sydney, in 1788, by 1,030 persons, 
mostly convicts ; and the place has still an inodorous 
name. But the anchorage was not good ; and the 
colony moved to Port Jackson, or Sydney Harbor. 
Other settlements were made in the next fifty years, 
some of them penal ; but Australia receives vastly 
less convicts now than formerly, and doubtless it 
will soon have none of this class. 

“Mr. Gaskette has indicated the five colonies of 
Australia on his map. In the northeast is Queens- 


388 


PACIFIC SHORES 


land. Each of the colonies has its own independent 
government, passes its own laws, and levies its own 
taxes and duties. Each has its legislature or its 
council. The principal city of Queensland is Bris- 
bane, on a river of the same name, twenty-five miles 
from its mouth.” 

“ Which is the reason why we do not go there,” 
interjected the commander. 

“ It has fine public buildings and thrifty manu- 
factures ; and its population, with the suburbs, is set 
down as 101,554. 

“New South Wales, as you observe, lies south of 
Queensland, in the southeast. The climate is like 
that of Southern Europe, except in the mountains. 
I met a lady from Australia before I left home, who 
told me that she had seen the thermometer at 124° 
in the shade, though it was very unusual ; but 110° 
to 115° was not uncommon in the summer ; and she 
came from this colony. 

“ Victoria, the smallest of the five colonies in the 
great island, occupies the southeast corner. It is an 
independent country, like the other colonies. It has 
a parliament of two chambers, — the Legislative 
Council of forty-eight members, and the Legislative 
Assembly of ninety-five. The members of the first 
must have an estate worth £100 a year, and of the 
other house £10 a year, or income in lieu of the 
same. Its population in 1851 was 77,345 ; in 1891 
862,346. This remarkable increase was owing to 
the gold fever and the general prosperity of the col- 


THE FLORA, FAUNA, AND NATIVES 339 

ony, which attracted vast numbers of immigrants for 
several years. Melbourne is the largest city, and I 
have no doubt that it is a great place ; but one au- 
thority gives its population at less than 300,000, and 
another at something less than half a million ; and 
therefore I do not know what it is. If it keeps in- 
creasing, it will eventually be as big as London. 

“ South Australia, which occupies the central por- 
tion of the island, and is as much north as south, has 
substantially the same form of government as the 
other colonies, with no property qualification for its 
legislators as in Victoria. The greater part of it is 
unsettled. The governors of all these colonies are 
appointed by the Queen. There is no government 
church, as in the United Kingdom, in any of the 
colonies ; and religion is as free as in the United 
States. Adelaide is the largest ‘city, with a popula- 
tion of 67,954. 

“ Western Australia was the last of the colonies to 
obtain an independent government. As you can see 
by the map, it is largely unsettled, and was formerly 
called the Swan River Settlement, and came into 
being as an independent colony in 1890. It has 
settlements along the coast. With over a million 
square miles of territory, it has a population of less 
than fifty thousand, unless it has jumped up like a 
kangaroo since 1891. I do not know that it has 
any largest city, or any city at all ; but the P. & O. 
steamers leave as their last port in the island from 
King George Sound. 


340 


PACIFIC SHORES 


“ The people of Australia are as free as any in the 
world, and it has made almost unexampled progress ; 
and there is land enough and resources of all kinds 
for the same growth for another century. The Legis- 
lative Councils of the two western colonies are all 
nominated by the Crown ; and in some of the others 
you have observed certain features which are not up 
to the American ideal, as the property qualifications, 
the appointment of the governors and of some of the 
members of the legislative bodies ; and the correction 
of these, which we regard as defects, are the subjects 
of agitation in some of the colonies. The Imperial 
laws are in force in all the colonies unless super- 
seded by local legislation. 

“In 1885 the English Parliament passed an act 
to create a Federal council 1 for the purpose of dealing 
with such matters of Australian interest, in respect 
to which united action is desirable, as can be dealt 
with without unduly interfering with the manage- 
ment of the internal affairs of the several colonies.’ 
In this connection I must call your attention to 
Australasia, as distinguished from Australia ; for the 
former name includes Tasmania, New Zealand, New 
Guinea (if the United Kingdom has anything to 
do with this great island,, though doubtless it has 
settlements there), and some other islands which 
seem to belong to Germany at the present time. But 
there is a difference of opinion in regard to what 
is included, and the Act seems to need revision. In 
1885 this council met at its first meeting in Hobart. 


THE FLORA, FAUNA, AND NATIVES 841 

Tasmania, Fiji, Queensland, Victoria, and Western 
Australia were represented. New South Wales, New 
Zealand, and South Australia decided not to join at 
that time ; but the promoters of the scheme hope 
that the example of Canada will be followed. 

“ The question of the common defence of the col- 
onies has for some time engaged the people, and 
most of the capitals are strongly fortified on the 
sea side. Victoria has a navy of its own, consisting 
of a line-of-battle ship, an ironclad, and a sloop of 
war ; South Australia and Queensland have gunboats. 
Sydney is the headquarters of the Australian squad- 
ron of the British navy. A conference, at *which 
every colony was represented, met in London, in 
which it was proposed to double the strength of the 
squadron, and render the island and Tasmania as 
nearly impregnable as jmssible, of which the colonies 
were to pay about $6,000,000 of the cost. 

“ As I have said before, there is no established 
church in Australia, and all religious sects must be 
self-supporting. The Episcopal is the largest and the 
most prominent, the Roman Catholics come second, 
Presbyterians third, and Methodists fourth. Educa- 
tion has been an especial care of the government and 
the people, and the elementary schools are so liber- 
ally provided for that a common school fit-out is 
within the reach of all classes. Libraries, museums, 
botanical gardens, schools of art, and mechanical in- 
stitutes are increasing in the colonies, encouraged 
by the authorities. There are universities in Mel- 


342 


PACIFIC SHORES 


bourne, Sydney, and Adelaide, as well as observa- 
tories well supplied with astronomical instruments. 

“Literary enterprise is mainly applied to journal- 
ism ; and there are 800 newspapers, magazines, and 
other periodicals published in the colonies. England 
supplies the books mainly. I have said that the 
colonies have enjoyed great prosperity ; and it is 
hardly necessary to give the statistics of agriculture, 
beyond saying that the great island raised about 

27.000. 000 bushels of wheat in 1885, and produced 

320.000. 000 pounds of the best wool in the world. 
There are plenty of railroads in the island, and a 
telegraph extends entirely across it. Believing that 
you are weary enough of the sound of my voice, 
I will retire,” said the professor, as he gathered up 
his papers and stepped down, while he was gene- 
rously applauded by the audience. 


TO THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF AUSTRALIA 343 


CHAPTER XXXIII 

TO THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF AUSTRALIA 

It was not till the thirteenth day from Nagasaki 
that the Guardian-Mother and the Blanche arrived 
at the entrance to Port J ackson ; but the weather 
was so mild and gentle that the passengers had 
enjoyed every day of the passage. Every afternoon 
either the party on board of the Blanche had visited 
her consort, or the people of the Guardian-Mother had 
gone to the other ship. It was not always games 
now, for all were somewhat tired of play. It was 
singing, the music of the band, and conversation, that 
suited them best now; though shuffle-board, throwing 
the rings on the upright stick, or some athletic sport, 
was still in vogue. 

The captains were therefore together about every 
day, and the course of the steamers was changed 
as the trend of the coast required. On their voyage 
they had crossed the equator, and had experienced 
some very hot weather. “ Crossing the Line ” had 
been duly celebrated on board both ships ; but the 
passengers did not take much interest in the affair. 
In latitude 30° S. the temperature was cool, but not 
cold ; and the passengers enjoyed the most delightful 
days. 


344 


PACIFIC SHORES 


On the 24th of June the ships took pilots for Port 
Jackson, named after the sailor who first sighted it. 
The seasons were inverted from what the voyagers 
were accustomed to at home j and so far as the cal- 
endar was concerned, the month corresponded with 
December at New York. It was summer, but the 
weather was that of September in the latitude of 
that city. It was about the same as December in 
southern Florida or Louisiana. It was exceedingly 
agreeable after the hot regions of the torrid zone 
through which they had just passed. If it had been 
left to their own choice, the passengers could not 
have selected anything more delightful. 

After breakfast the passengers of the Blanche had 
come on board of the Guardian-Mother at the re- 
quest of the commander, and Captain Sharp had 
come with them. There was quite a long conference 
in the chart-room between the two captains, with the 
great map of Australia open before them. Captain 
Ringgold had been studying the situation the day 
before, and he had evidently reached a conclusion. 
The Guardian-Mother had been a year and a half on 
her voyage, and Mr. Boulong had reported that some 
of the copper on the ship needed repairs. The 
steamer had not sailed quite as well as usual on her 
long voyage, and more steam was required to keep up 
her usual fourteen knots an hour. The two captains 
had decided what was to be done. 

The passengers of both steamers were seated under 
the awning of Conference Hall, not for a lecture, but 


TO THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF AUSTRALIA 345 

because it was the pleasantest place on deck. Cap- 
tain Ringgold passed through them to the head of 
the hall, and mounted the rostrum. The company 
all looked at him, assured that something of interest 
to them was to be said ; and they were all attention. 
The siamangs were on duty as usual on such occa- 
sions ; and Miss Mingo was in the lap of the princess, 
though she was becoming too large to be treated as a 
baby. 

“ Ladies and gentlemen,” the commander began, 
— and he was greeted with applause the moment he 
made a slight pause, for he was regarded as a model 
man, and the most popular gentleman on board, — “ I 
find that it is necessary to lay out a programme for 
our movements on shore. We shall take a pilot 
by noon to-day, and be in Sydney some time this 
afternoon. Our ship needs certain repairs, and she 
must go into dry dock. She will be in port about 
three weeks, and in* that time we must see all we 
can of Australia. The three principal cities we shall 
visit on this continent are Sydney, Melbourne, and 
Adelaide. We shall go to Melbourne by railroad, 
and that will enable you to see something of the in- 
terior of the country. From there we can go to 
Adelaide by steamer, or by rail, as you prefer. The 
trains are express every day but Saturday and Sun- 
day. 

“We may prolong our stay a week, for we have 
time enough, and cross Bass Strait to Tasmania. 
We can go from Melbourne to a northern port of the 


346 


PACIFIC SHORES 


island, and then by rail to Hobart, so that you will 
see a large portion of the country. I shall calculate 
upon four weeks in this part of the world. You will 
hear no foreign language here, and it will be the same 
thing practically as in England ; and there will be no 
manners and customs to look up.” 

“ Pilot, sir,” reported the third officer, coming from 
the bridge. 

“ I have said all I have to say, and I suppose you 
wish to see the pilot,” added the commander, as he 
bowed and retired. 

The pilot was an elderly man, and looked like a 
bluff British tar. He was received by the captain, 
and handed him several newspapers, as they do off 
New York. He went to the pilot-house, and imme- 
diately changed the course of the ship. In about an 
hour she passed between the two headlands into Port 
Jackson, at the head of which is the harbor of Syd- 
ney. It is a beautiful bay, and the people there 
think there is nothing like it in the world except the 
Bay of Naples and that of Rio de Janeiro. The pas- 
sengers enjoyed it very much. 

The commander, relieved from duty by the pilot, 
seated himself on deck, and looked over the news- 
papers, but he found no startling news to tell his 
fellow-voyagers, who were all very busy enjoying the 
scenery of the shores ; and perhaps they were willing 
to admit the claim of the Australians, that not more 
than two harbors in the world are equal to it. The 
captain had already instructed Mr. Boulong in regard 


TO THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF AUSTRALIA 347 

to the docking and repairs of the ship ; and the pilot 
stopped the screw at Sydney Cove, where the anchor 
went down. The party were going on shore at once, 
and had prepared their baggage for a stay on shore 
of three or four weeks. A tug came within hail, and 
it was engaged to land the company. 

The little steamer took them to the usual landing- 
place, where they found carriages in waiting ; and 
they proceeded to the Hotel Metropole, which was 
believed to be the largest and finest hotel in the 
city. It was an immense building, at the junction of 
three streets ; and the party was pleasantly welcomed 
by the manager, for it consisted of nearly a score of 
persons. They were soon comfortably domiciled in 
their quarters. The dinner was decidedly English, 
and they could ask for nothing better. They arrived 
on Saturday, and most of the tourists went to church 
on Sunday. 

The next day they took a couple of wagonettes in 
order to be together, and the manager sent one of his 
people as a conductor with them. The public build- 
ings were remarkably fine, especially the Town Hall. 
They got out of the vehicles, and walked in the public 
garden at Lady Macquaire Point, with a fine view of 
Garden Island. Before lunch they had driven well 
over the city, observed the shops, — they are not 
stores on British soil, — the residences, and parks. 
In the afternoon they looked at the city more in de- 
tail, and spent the next day in the same manner. 

On Wednesday in small parties they walked about 


348 


PACIFIC SHORES 


the city till afternoon, for they were to take the train 
for Melbourne at quarter-past five. There were no 
sleepers ; but most of the company slept very well in 
their seats, for they had plenty of room. It was an 
express-train ; and they reached the capital of Victoria 
about noon the next day, and had seen a good deal of 
the country before dark on the first day and during 
the forenoon on the second. They went to the Grand 
Hotel, opposite the Houses of Parliament, and found 
that it was a palatial structure with four hundred 
rooms, and was doubtless quite equal to the hotels 
in London and New York. 

Melbourne is the largest city in the southern hem- 
isphere. Its situation is less desirable than that of 
Sydney, but it has rather more of a metropolitan air 
about it. It has everything that London or New 
York has in point of comfort and luxury, including 
tram-cars, as street-cars are called on British terri- 
tory. Its public buildings are grand and magnificent, 
and the private residences of the wealthy class are 
palatial. The American tourists spent the rest of the 
week in this city, and went through the same pro- 
gramme as in Sydney; but it is useless to describe 
the place in detail, for it would be only a repetition 
of what has been done before in English towns. 

On the following Monday afternoon at 4.20 they 
took the train for Adelaide, the capital and largest 
town of South Australia, and arrived there at ten in 
the forenoon of the next day. I)r. Hawkes had a 
friend at this place to whom he had written from 


TO THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF AUSTRALIA 349 

Sydney ; and lie advised them to go to the York Hotel, 
which was good enough, but not on so grand a scale 
as those at which they had been before in the island. 

The city seemed to be determined to keep pace in 
its improvements with the other large towns of Aus- 
tralia, and its public buildings appeared to be quite 
equal to those they had seen in Sydney and Mel- 
bourne. King William Street was a noble avenue, 
flanked with lofty and elegant edifices; but on the 
whole, the place was the same as the others they had 
seen. The tourists remained three days in the city, 
and then made an excursion of three more into the 
country under the direction of a guide, procured by 
the surgeon’s friend, visiting Lake Torrens, and sail- 
ing through it to Andanaka in the country. 

They spent a day at this place, riding out ten miles 
into a farming-region, where they had an opportunity 
to examine a sheep-raiser’s establishment. He em- 
ployed two “ black fellows,” as they are called ; for 
the term native applies only to white people born in 
Australia. They talked English passably well ; and 
the commander gave each of them a present of five 
shillings, which opened their eyes and their mouths. 
They produced several boomerangs and spears, for 
they had been wild men once, and showed how to 
use the former, though they were out of practice 
since they had become civilized. The weapon came 
back to them every time, though they did not always 
hit the mark. 

The tourists were much interested and not a little 


350 


PACIFIC SHORES 


amused at the talk and actions of these bearded 
blacks, and became quite intimate with the farmer’s 
family, rewarding the children with shillings. The 
guide had found a place for them to sleep on board 
of the boat by which they had come up the lake, 
for it had a cabin for the ladies, and the men slept 
under canvas on deck. The company returned to 
Adelaide the next day, and remained over Sunday 
at the hotel. 

On Monday at 4.30 in the afternoon the Ameri- 
cans left by train for Melbourne, arriving there at 
9.52 in the forenoon of the next day. At the Grand 
Hotel they obtained information in regard to the 
steamers for Tasmania. An agent was brought to 
the commander; and passage was engaged for the 
party in a steamer for Launceston, at the head of 
navigation on the Tamar Liver. They went on board 
of her, and she sailed in the afternoon. She was 
rather small, but tolerably comfortable. She entered 
the river at seven in the morning, and all the party 
were on deck to see the scenery. There were moun- 
tains on each side of them, and the view was inter- 
esting without being grand. 

At Launceston they took the train, and in five 
hours were at Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. The 
doctor’s friend had recommended Mrs. Clements’s pri- 
vate boarding-house to them, and had written her in 
regard to the tourists. They went to the Pressland 
House, as it was called, and were better pleased with 
it than with the palatial hotels of the larger cities. 


TO THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF AUSTRALIA 351 

It had a veranda in front on the first and second 
floors, and the weather was warm enough just then 
for the visitors to enjoy them. The city is beauti- 
fully located on the great harbor. 

Hobart had a population of 25,000 in 1891, and 
seems to be keeping up with the march of improve- 
ment in Australia ; for its public buildings, of a light- 
colored freestone, quarried near the town, are all fine 
buildings. The United States consul waited upon 
them as soon as the company arrived, for he had 
learned of their coming from Hr. Hawkes’s friend. 
He went with them on their rides, and was very 
agreeable. They explored the city very thoroughly, 
and were, for some reason, better pleased with it than 
any other town they had visited. 

They were so well pleased with the place that they 
remained there for a week, partly in order to take 
a fine steamer which went direct to Sydney. They 
went on board of her Wednesday morning; and she 
sailed at noon, carrying passengers for the P. & 0. 
ships to England and America. She arrived at her 
destination on Friday morning. As they went into 
the harbor they saw the Guardian-Mother and the 
Blanche at anchor where they had left them ; but 
they had been repainted, and it was evident that the 
repairs had been completed. A tug was hailed ; and 
the company went on board with their baggage, feel- 
ing that they had “ done ” Australia. 

The Guardian-Mother had been painted inside as 
well as outside, the cabin having been done by work- 


352 


PACIFIC SHORES 


men from the city. The tourists were very much 
pleased by her appearance. Captain Sharp came on 
board before lunch with his wife. He had been in- 
vited to go with the company, but he would not leave 
when there was work to be done on board his ship ; 
and his wife would not go without him, though she 
also had been invited. 

“ I suppose you have had a good time, Captain 
Ringgold,” said the captain of the Blanche when 
they had shaken hands. 

“ The party have y and so have I, for that matter, 
though I should not travel for my own pleasure,” re- 
plied the commander. 

“ General Noury and the princess were both de- 
lighted with the trip, and spoke especially of the 
excursion to some lake from Adelaide,” added the 
captain of the Blanche. 

“ We have made all the repairs, done all the paint- 
ing we required, and both ships have been coaled ; 
and I came on board to learn when we are to sail 
from this port,” "continued Captain Sharp. 

“ To-day is Friday, and we will sail at eight to- 
morrow morning,” replied Captain Ringgold ; and as 
soon as the passengers came on deck before lunch, he 
made the announcement to them. 

“By the way, Captain, to what port in New Zea- 
land do you intend to sail?” inquired Captain Sharp. 

“ To Wellington, of course. I should not think of 
going to Auckland first; for if we go to Fiji, we 
should have to double on some of our course,” re- 


TO THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF AUSTRALIA 353 

plied Captain Ringgold, wondering what the other 
captain was thinking about. 

“ I did not understand that you were going to 
Fiji ; and I see that you have figured out the course, 
as I have not, or even looked at the chart. I should 
like to know your courses,” added the commander of 
the Blanche. 

“ Here are the whole of them. I copied them on 
a card for you,” continued Captain Ringgold, taking 
it from his vest pocket. “ East southeast a quarter 
east to Cape Farewell, on the southern island, where 
we take a pilot for Wellington, I suppose. From this 
port we will go to Auckland ; and these are the only 
ports to which we shall go, making several trips by 
rail into the country.” 

“ I understand it perfectly now,” said Captain 
Sharp. 

“ Have your people come on board about ten to- 
morrow for the lecture, if the weather is favorable,” 
added the commander, as his associate went over the 
side. 

The tourists were tired enough to rest themselves 
the remainder of the day. 


354 


PACIFIC SHORES 


CHAPTER XXXIV 

A BRIEF VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND 

The most of the rainfall of the southern portion 
of Australia comes in the winter, which is in June, 
July, and August ; and no little of it came down on 
the twenty-second day of August, the day the com- 
mander had appointed for the sailing of the Guardian- 
Mother and her consort from Sydney for New Zealand. 
It poured in torrents when the anchor watch was 
changed at four o’clock in the morning, and it con- 
tinued to pour all day long ; and by night there must 
have been considerable difference in the level of 
Murray River from what it had been the night be- 
fore. None of the ladies came on deck before break- 
fast, and the gentlemen confined themselves to the 
covered portions of the main deck. 

Breakfast was served as usual; but it was taken 
with the electric lights turned on, for the cabin was 
quite dark in the early hours. It looked very dismal 
about the harbor, so far as the passengers could see 
it through the ports. Yet it was a change, and the 
party were as cheerful as though it had been sun- 
shine. 

“ I have not seen you on deck this morning,” said 
Captain Ringgold, as he seated himself at the head 


A BRIEF VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND 355 


of the table, rather late, for he had been detained on 
deck. 

“ No ; we are not ducks, and preferred to keep our 
feathers dry,” replied the “ first lady.” 

“ Of course we have to stay where we are all day,” 
suggested Mrs. Woolridge. “ I don’t think I ever saw 
it rain any harder than it does this morning.” 

“ No, madam ; we shall not remain where we are 
all day, and in an hour from now we shall be on the 
Pacific Ocean. The anchor is already hove short.” 

“ But isn’t it very bad weather ? ” asked Miss 
Blanche. 

“ For ladies not under cover, it is ; but it is not 
a storm, though it rains very hard, and you must 
amuse yourselves in the cabin, music-room, and bou- 
doir,” replied the commander. 

“ Don’t I hear music ? ” added Mrs. Belgrave. 

“ I do ; and the Italian band is making it cheerful 
on board of the Blanche,” answered the captain ; for 
the ports were open, and the consort was anchored 
quite near the ship. “ General Noury is having mu- 
sic as an antidote for the dismal weather.” 

The pilot came on board promptly at eight o’clock, 
the anchor was tripped, and the gong sounded to start 
the screw. Though it rained very hard, there was 
no fog, and the pilot could see through it. In another 
hour the two ships were outside of Port Jackson, and 
in eighty fathoms of water. The course was given 
out, and the pilot went down to breakfast before he 
left. When he went on deck a canoe came from the 


856 


PACIFIC SHORES 


pilot-boat for him. He shook hands with the officers, 
wished them a pleasant voyage, and went over the side. 

The gong of the Guardian-Mother rang, and then 
the speed-bell. The ship went ahead at her usual 
number of revolutions. The bottom of the steamer 
had been repaired and thoroughly cleaned, and she 
seemed to slip through the water faster than usual. 
The captain ordered the third officer to heave the 
log, the old-fashioned reel and chip, though the ship 
was also provided with the modern patent log. The 
report of Mr. Scott was fifteen knots. The work done 
at Sydney was telling upon the speed, though no 
change was made in the revolutions. 

It rained with unabated steadiness all day; but 
except the long rollers, the sea was smooth. The 
passengers sang, conversed, and amused themselves 
in various ways, the ladies doing their sewing and 
mending. At midnight it cleared off, and the sun 
rose bright and clear the next morning. The screws 
were stopped, and the Blanche party came on board 
of the Guardian-Mother at nine o’clock. A frolic 
ensued, and all of them told how they had contrived 
to pass the rainy day. Louis did not tell how he 
had disposed of the dismal hours ; but he was in the 
library and his stateroom all day, preparing for the 
lecture on New Zealand, which had been assigned to 
him. He had been ready for it the day before, but 
he was glad to give it further study. The deck and 
the chairs were all well dried by ten o’clock, and the 
company took their seats. 


A BRIEF VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND 357 


“ As you are aware, New Zealand is a British 
Colony, and consists of three islands, with many 
small ones along the coast. It lies 1,200 miles east 
of Australia; and its nearer neighbors are Fiji and 
New Caledonia, though not much nearer, the latter 
being about 750 miles from it. The two larger 
islands, divided by Cook Strait, which is about thirty 
miles wide at Wellington, are 1,100 miles from north 
to south, from 200 down to 50 from east to west. 
The area of the colony is 106,240 square miles, about 
equal to the Middle States, — New York, New Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. 

“The north island is deeply indented with bays 
and gulfs, and has many excellent harbors. The 
south island has a less uneven coast, except in the 
north and south. Both of the islands are moun- 
tainous, each having a range, nearly unbroken, ex- 
tending its whole length. A third of the north 
island is covered with volcanic debris ; and Tongariro 
is an active volcano, giving out smoke and steam, but 
not lava. The rivers are not navigable, except in 
their lower waters by small craft. Each island con- 
tains numerous beautiful lakes, as they must be 
among the mountains, the principal of which is Lake 
Taupo, 125 miles south of Auckland, with a railroad 
most of the way. The Waikato is the largest and 
longest river, which passes through this lake, and 
flows out on the west coast. Mount Cook, 12,362 
feet high, is the loftiest mountain ; and there are 
others of eight to nine thousand feet high. The 


358 


PACIFIC SHOPvES 


country is generally very rough, with plenty of ele- 
vations of three to four thousand feet. 

“ The climate of the islands is all you could pos- 
sibly desire, and one the healthiest in the world. 
Malaria is unknown, and the death-rate is 9.04 in a 
thousand ; it is double that in our Eastern States. 
The coldest weather at Otag, on the southeast 
coast, is 40° Fahrenheit; and the warmest at Auck- 
land, in the north, is 68°. The weather is change- 
able, but there are less rainy days than in the south 
of England. Cattle remain in the fields all the year, 
except in the extreme south, where milch cows are 
sheltered for a few months at night. I need hardly 
add that the scenery is exceedingly fine ; and the 
people of Australia are beginning to go there, as the 
Americans do to Switzerland, to spend their sum- 
mers in December and January. Near Cook Strait 
they have a mild form of earthquake, and Wellington 
has been somewhat damaged by one of them. On 
the southwest coast are Sutherland Falls, 1,904 feet 
high. 

“ There are hardly any animals here, in the com- 
mon use of the word, except those that have been 
brought here of the domestic kind. Cook left pigs, 
which have multiplied. Plenty of parrots are found ; 
and one kind, the kea, has- learned to prey upon the 
sheep. A number of them band together, and attack 
a weakly animal at night, and peck at him till they 
kill him. Then they tear him open, and feed upon 
the kidney fat. The apteryx is a wingless bird ; and 


A BRIEF VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND 359 

though he cannot fly, he makes up for it by his 
speed in running. Various animals and birds have 
been brought here from England, among them rab- 
bits ; the professor told you about the mischief they 
do in Australia and Tasmania. It is the same here, 
' and it costs half a million dollars a year to keep 
them in check. 

“What you would call the natives here are the 
Maoris, who are Polynesians ; they are supposed to 
have come from other islands, and they brought with 
them the dogs and the rats. The rivers and lakes 
have been stocked with fish. Timber-trees are the 
most important plants, with the native flax, which 
grows wild in great profusion, and is used for weav- 
ing. The soil is generally rich j the islands are very 
productive, and the farmer is well rewarded for his 
labor. Gold is found here, and considerable quanti- 
ties have been taken from the ground ; and all the 
minerals are perhaps abundant, but not largely mined. 
Only one-fifth of the coal used is produced here, 
though an excellent quality exists. Education is lib- 
erally provided for. Manufactures are confined to 
articles used in the colony. 

“The population in 1891 was 668,651, including 
Maoris and Chinese. The government is about the 
same as that of the colonies of Australia. It is sug- 
gested that the Maoris displaced or absorbed a race 
of aborigines, as some little diversity of form and 
feature is found among them. They are as tall as 
Englishmen, with stout forms, but with short legs for 


360 


PACIFIC SHORES 


their height. Their heads are well shaped, and they 
have thick lips ; but on the whole they are not bad- 
looking. The pictures you see of them are 'generally 
scarred and tattoed; but the practice of disfiguring 
or ornamenting themselves, as you may please to call 
it, has been almost abandoned. In 1814 the Episcopal 
missionaries came to the islands, and five-sixths of 
the Maoris are now nominally Christians. They have 
to a great extent taken up the manners and customs 
of the English. They desire to have their children 
educated, and their future is rather hopeful. In 
Cook’s time they numbered 100,000; but there are 
less than half that number now. 

“ These islands were first discovered by Abel 
Janssen Tasman, in 1642; but they were practically 
unknown till Cook found them again three-quarters 
of a century later, and took possession of them in the 
name of the Crown of England. The first colony was 
planted in 1840. By a treaty made with the Maoris, 
the inhabitants were not to be deprived of their land, 
and every acre occupied has been duly paid for. The 
colony is now prosperous. The missionaries have 
done a great work here, as the condition of the na- 
tives abundantly proves. I have nothing more to 
say, and therefore it is proper for me to step down,” 
Louis concluded with a graceful bow, and all the 
party applauded him as he retired. 

Early in the forenoon the steamers arrived at Wel- 
lington, and the tourists immediately went on shore. 
It was a beautiful harbor, and the town is built on 


A BRIEF VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND 361 

the slope of the circular hills, presenting a very pic- 
turesque appearance. It has a population of 27,000, 
and the visitors found that it was about in the same 
style as the cities in Australia. Carriages were taken, 
and at the Royal Hotel a guide was obtained, and din- 
'ner ordered at two o’clock. The conductor took the 
party all over the town, and pointed out all the public 
buildings, and other objects of interest, and some of 
no interest whatever. The view from some of the 
heights, however, was new and fresh. But they were 
glad when the dinner-hour came. 

It was a very good dinner, “ quite English, you 
know ; ” and the company were hungry enough to 
enjoy it very much. After the meal many of the 
party walked about the streets, and bought photo- 
graphs of the scenery and other articles of interest, 
and returned to the ships early in the afternoon. 
The order had been given to sail at five, and the 
pilots had been retained on board. Supper was 
served at six, though it was generally dinner at that 
hour. The band of the Blanche played, and the 
party on the Guardian-Mother sang in Conference 
Hall. In a couple of hours they saw Mount Egmont 
in the distance, towering to the evening sky. It is 
8,270 feet high; and not far from it is the active 
volcano, which they could not see in the darkness, 
for it sends up nothing but smoke and steam. The 
pilots had been discharged as soon as the ships had 
passed the narroiv part of Cook Strait. Off Cape 
Egmont the course for the night was given out, the 


362 


PACIFIC SHORES 


weather was fine, and the passengers slept well after 
their excursion on shore. In the middle of the after- 
noon of the next day pilots were taken off Manukau 
Head for Auckland. The steamers passed between 
two headlands into a bay, and the tourists found 
enough to interest them in observing the scenery 
which surrounded them. At the head of this bay 
the ships came to anchor. 

The lookouts in the town appeared to have seen 
the steamers when they came into the bay, for plenty 
of carriages were in waiting at the landing-place. 
As soon as the gangway had been lowered, a boat 
appeared alongside ; and a gentleman, who announced 
himself as the consul of the United States, came on 
board. The commander received him with abundant 
suavity ; and after he had stated that the steamer was 
a private yacht, he introduced him to the ladies and 
gentlemen still seated in Conference Hall. The con- 
sul was invited to dine on board, and spend the 
evening in the music-room. He accepted ; and he 
was a very welcome visitor, for he had the latest 
news for this remote quarter of the globe from all 
over the world. A line of steamers run from San 
Francisco to Sydney, touching at Auckland ; and the 
freshest copy of The Call was presented to the cap- 
tain. 

Speeches were made at the dinner-table for the 
purpose of calling out the visitor, and he told the 
company a great deal about Auckland. The next 
morning the tourists went on shore, and took up 


A BRIEF VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND 363 

their quarters at the Albert Hotel. They looked the 
city over, as they had the others in this part of the 
globe. The town was under the shadow of Mount 
Eden,* on a neck of land between two excellent har- 
bors, communicating on both sides of the island with 
the Pacific. The town was settled in 1840, and be- 
came the seat of government, though this has recently 
been removed to Wellington. Its public buildings 
were not on the same scale as those of the large 
cities of Australia, but they were worthy of the 
times. 

The party rode all over the town, and spent a 
week in this locality, visiting Lake Taupo and other 
interesting places in the north of the island. They 
were quite taken with the Maoris, and talked with 
them a great deal as opportunity presented. They 
enjoyed the entire week, and they were sorry when 
they were called upon by the commander to go on 
board. 

“ I wonder where we are to go next,” said Mrs. 
Belgrave, as the party seated themselves at the table 
after the ship had passed out of the bay into the 
broad Pacific. 

“ The last order I gave to the officer of the deck 
was north by east a quarter east,” replied Captain 
Ringgold. 

“ That is more definite than intelligible, and you 
might as well have answered in Maori,” replied the 
lady. 

“ If we follow that course for about four days, or a 


364 


PACIFIC SHORES 


little less, it will take ns to Yiti Levu, the largest of 
the Fiji Islands,” added the commander. 

After hearing this reply, the party had enough to 
talk about during the dinner and the evening, and 
the professor work enough, in the scarcity of ma- 
terials, to prepare the lecture which had been given 
out to him. 


A WEEK AT THE FIJI ISLANDS 


365 


CHAPTER XXXV 

$ 

A WEEK AT THE FIJI ISLANDS 

Auckland is in nearly the same latitude as 
New York, a little south of it, and the temperature 
was about the same. Mrs. Belgrave wanted to see 
the shores at the northern part of New Zealand, 
and the commander of the Guardian-Mother had di- 
rected the chief engineer to reduce the speed to ten 
knots. Sordy, who had the morning watch in the 
cabin, had called the lady and several others at half- 
past five; and before six they were on deck. The 
weather was mild and pleasant ; and the Pacific was 
in its most cheerful mood, as it is not at all times. 

“ Good-morning, Mrs. Belgrave / 7 said the captain, 
who was planking the deck in waiting for her. 

Mrs. Blossom and Miss Blanche came up with her, 
and the commander saluted them. Louis and Felix 
were there before, for they were always early risers ; 
and the young millionaire was not sorry to see the 
young lady, and was always very pleasant to the 
older one, though he would not have wept any salt 
tears if the fair maiden had come without her. 

“ Good-morning, Captain Ringgold. I see that you 
are up before breakfast / 7 replied the “ first lady . 77 

“ I generally turn out about daylight, and of course 


366 


PACIFIC SHORES 


after what you said last night I should not fail to be 
on deck this morning,” added the commander in a 
low tone. 

“ What did I say last night ? ” she asked. 

“ You said you wished to see the coast as we left 
it ; and I have had the speed reduced during the 
night to two-thirds of the regular rate, and we are as 
near the shore as it is prudent to go, though we have 
twenty fathoms of water here. The land you see 
ahead on the starboard side is Cape Maria Van Die- 
men. I don’t know who this lady was, but probably 
it was the name of Abel Tasman’s wife. He married 
the daughter of Anthony Van Diemen, who was the 
Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Tas- 
man named the island we visited after his father- 
in-law ; but the English had more respect for the 
discoverer than for his wife’s father, and changed the 
name to Tasmania, which is a very pretty word to 
make out of a Dutch root. 

Louis told the same story to Miss Blanche; but 
Felix did not know it, so that he could not tell it to 
“ aunty,” as he always called Mrs. Blossom, since she 
did not object to it, as she did to “ grandma,” and 
they had agreed much better than formerly. The 
party walked the deck till breakfast- time ; and as the 
commander had rung the speed-bell, the cape could 
hardly be seen. At ten o’clock the passengers, with 
those from the Blanche, had assembled in Conference 
Hall to hear the lecture of Professor Giroud. 

“ The materials are not very abundant in detail for 


A WEEK AT THE FIJI ISLANDS 


367 


a description of the Fiji Islands, though I hope to be 
able to give you a sufficient description for your sat- 
isfaction, the learned gentleman began. 

“ Excuse me for interrupting you, Professor ; but I 
wish to inquire how you spell the name of these 
' islands ? ” interposed Louis. “ I find it given in no 
less than four different forms ; and I have heard an 
old song sung by one of the sailors on board, whose 
refrain was, ‘ All in the Tongo Islands/ which I be- 
lieve -relates to the group we are to visit, though the 
word is properly Tonga.” 

“The Friendly Islands are also called the Tonga 
Group, and the largest of them is Tongatabu. They 
are near the Fijis, but are not the same. Fiji, Feejee, 
Figee, and Yiti are the forms to which you allude ; 
but I think the English have adopted a method of 
spelling the word which has come into general use, 
and which will soon supersede all others ; and that is 
Fiji, though they also use Viti Islands. I see that 
Lippincott adds Fidji to the other forms. 

• “ These islands, however you spell the name, are 
now a British dependency, whose central latitude is 
about 18° S. and longitude 178° E. The entire group 
consists of 225 islands, from a mere reef to Viti Levu, 
which is about 80 miles long from east to west. Its 
nearest neighbors are the Friendly Islands, 250 miles 
southeast of them. Eighty of the Fiji Islands are in- 
habited. The island of Rotumah, though 250 miles 
distant, is included in the colony.” 

“ Where is Tahiti ? ” asked Mrs. Blossom. “ I have 


368 


PACIFIC SHORES 


read about it in the missionary paper, and I was 
wondering if we were going there.” 

“ Tahiti is one of the Society Islands ; but this 
name for them has disappeared from some of the 
maps, and they now take the name of a much larger 
group, called the Paumota, or Low Archipelago. 
Tahiti, formerly called Otaheite, contains 600 square 
miles, is one of the most important islands of the 
Pacific, and is now in full possession of the French. 
Whether we are going there or not the commander 
can answer.” 

“We shall not go within 1,800 miles of Tahiti,” 
added Captain Finggold. 

“ Returning to Fiji, these islands were sighted by 
Tasman in 1643. Cook visited Turtle Island in 
1773, in the extreme southeast of the group ; but 
very little was known of any of the islands of the 
Pacific till the present century. The natives, one 
island with another, or different parts of the same 
island, were often at war with each other. Cannibal- 
ism prevailed in many, perhaps most of them ; and 
war furnished their disgusting food. Two forces have 
been acting on the natives during a considerable por- 
tion of the present century, — the missionaries, and 
the sailors of Europe and America, especially those 
engaged in whaling ; the influence of the latter upon 
the simple people was corrupting to the last degree. 
In 1835 the Wesleyan missionaries went to the Fijis 
from Tongatabu, and began their work of civilization 
and Christianization. They produced a wonderful 


A WEEK AT THE FIJI ISLANDS 


369 


effect, and to-day most of the people are nominally 
Christians ; I say nominally, and I think I should 
have to say the same thing in almost any Christian 
country in the world. With native dissensions and 
European intrusion, it finally came to European pro- 
. tection, and then to the adoption of the islands as a 
colony of England. 

“ With the missionaries came not only Christian- 
ity, the most beneficent gift that could be bestowed 
upon the inhabitants, but also commerce, the arts, 
agriculture, and social improvement. In 1849 some 
damage was done to the property of the American 
consul, and a heavy claim was made by his govern- 
ment for damages against King Thakombau. He 
could not pay it. Nearly ten years later he offered 
the sovereignty of the islands to England on condi- 
tion that he should retain his rank, and that his big 
debt should be paid. As a set-off to the debt, he also 
offered to convey to the British government the abso- 
lute possession of 200,000 acres of land. A commis- 
sioner was sent over to ascertain the fitness of the 
islands for a coaling-station, and of the land for cot- 
ton-raising ; for the War of the Rebellion in the 
United States had made this article very scarce in 
England. In 1862 the offer was rejected. 

“ Then the white population increased in the next 
few years ; and cotton-planting became one of the in- 
dustries of the islands, conducted, of course, by the 
whites. In Australia the Polynesia Company was 
formed, having for its object the payment of King 


870 


PACIFIC SHORES 


Thakombau’s debt in consideration of the 200,000 
acres of land he had offered to England. Under 
the auspices of this company English people emi- 
grated from home and from Australia to the Fiji 
Islands. In 1871 they established a constitutional 
government under the king, and England was again 
called upon to adopt the islands. The Governor of 
New South Wales was directed to visit the region, 
and report upon the condition of the islands and the 
people. On his report, the sovereignty of the islands 
was accepted in 1874. 

“Fiji was thus made a colony of the United King- 
dom, a governor was sent over, and th& territory 
divided into fourteen provinces, each having its coun- 
cil, with subdivisions into village districts ; and taxes 
were levied for the support of the government, 
payable mostly in kind. In this manner the islands 
became a thriving colony, though in the nature of 
things with many obstacles to overcome ; for the na- 
tives had been practically nothing but vagabonds, 
and it was not an easy matter to initiate them into 
habits of industry, by which alone they could obtain 
the means to pay their taxes. 

“ Without the missionaries the government could 
have accomplished hardly anything; for they taught 
them the arts of civilization, and had accomplished a 
wonderful revolution in the manners and customs of 
the natives. Cannibalism had disappeared, the petty 
wars of tribes had ceased to exist, and churches, or 
meeting-houses, small and humble in pretensions, had 


A WEEK AT THE FIJI ISLANDS 


3T1 


been erected, and occupied for worship in great num- 
bers. 

“ I do not wish to be understood that the millen- 
nium had come in the Fiji Islands, only that a 
wonderful revolution had been accomplished in the 
region, — a mighty change from heathenism, canni- 
balism, senseless wars, ignorance, and depravity, to 
the ordinary standard of morality in what are called 
Christian communities in Europe and the United 
States. There were still good and vicious natives ; 
but we may well doubt if the latter class were any 
worse than in New York, Paris, or London. I think 
I have said enough, and perhaps too much, about 
Fiji, and I will take my leave of you,” the professor 
concluded, made his bow, and retired from the stand. 

There was some difference of opinion in regard to 
the islanders among the gentlemen ; but they all 
agreed that the speaker had made a fair statement 
of the condition of the people and the work of the 
missionaries, so far as they understood them; and 
the commander heartily indorsed the whole lecture. 

During the lecture the ship had been going ahead 
at the rate of fifteen knots, and the Blanche had fol- 
lowed her closely. The air was full of life and 
health, and the passengers enjoyed every moment 
of the time. On the following day the people of 
the Guardian-Mother visited the Blanche, and the 
band played several hours. But the games had be- 
come rather an old story, and singing and conver- 
sation were more agreeable occupations. Then the 


372 


PACIFIC SHORES 


passengers all met on the other ship. The delights 
of the South Sea Islands were fully realized during 
this pleasant voyage; and on the morning of the 
fourth day from Auckland, a pilot was taken for the 
harbor of Suva, in the southeast of the island of Yiti 
Levu. The view of the island produced a strong im- 
pression upon the minds of the visitors ; for in the 
distance they could see lofty mountains, and a multi- 
tude of pinnacles, cones, and frustrums, though none 
of them were very lofty. They had been among coral 
reefs before, and they were not novelties to them. 

Both steamers came to anchor in the harbor, and 
their appearance seemed to create no little excitement 
on shore. The anchor had hardly got hold of the bot- 
tom before the British tars on board of the Blanche 
began to lower the steam-launch into the water. In 
the course of an hour she came alongside the Guard- 
ian-Mother with her four passengers seated in the 
stern. Captain Ringgold’s party were all ready to 
make a landing, and a swinging boom had been 
rigged out, to which the barge and the first cutter 
were made fast; but the company were invited to 
go ashore in the Blanchita. 

A considerable crowd had already gathered ; and 
the American consular agent presented himself, wel- 
comed them, and offered his services. He was 
curious to know what the two steamers were, and 
Captain Binggold explained to his satisfaction. The 
party separated, and began to wander over the town. 
There was a hotel in the place, for two or three 


A WEEK AT THE FIJI ISLANDS 


373 


steamers stopped there every month. The comman- 
der ordered dinner at one o’clock for the company. 

The natives were the first objects of interest to 
the visitors, and the houses the next. The people 
were very polite, and bowed to the strangers wher- 
ever they were encountered ; and their salutations 
were always returned. The Fijians were well-be- 
haved, and Louis, who had with him the same party 
as in Japan, attempted to talk with some of them ; 
but although only a few spoke English, he got along 
very well with them. He spoke to a woman who 
was fairly good-looking ; and she asked them into 
her house, which was some distance from the middle 
of the town. The building was composed of round 
sticks, the sides plaited with grass and leaves, and 
the roof looked like the slanted top of a long hay- 
stack. Palms were growing around it, and it 
appeared to be a very pretty and comfortable resi- 
dence. They went in, and found it was very tastily 
furnished, with a small quantity of European furni- 
ture, besides a great many things that were new to 
the visitors. They thanked the woman very heartily, 
and the ladies shook hands with her. She was 
dressed in European costume, and there was nothing 
of the savage about her except her complexion and 
her hair. 

The company dined at the hotel, and the fare was 
very different from that to which they had been 
accustomed. After the meal they sailed in the Blan- 
chita along the coast, having taken the pilot who 


874 


PACIFIC SHORES 


had brought the ship into port. He was engaged 
for the next morning; and then the party made an 
excursion to Levuka, the former capital, about forty 
miles distant. Pitts and the four sailors were on 
board, and the cook was ordered to get dinner for 
the excursionists. 

A coral reef enclosed the harbor; and the water 
was of a light-blue color, as they had observed it at 
Nassau, and the surface looked like a mirror. The 
pilot took the launch to a landing-place, though the 
company had enjoyed the view from the harbor. 
The shore was broken into hills, cones, and odd 
shapes. It was a romantic spot, and the ladies were 
inclined to go into rhapsodies over the beauty of 
the scene. They landed, and went to the village, 
where they wandered about for an hour, looking at 
the people and the houses, the latter being different 
from the one they had examined before ; for they 
were built of boards, and painted white, or white- 
washed. The people were pleasant; but they could 
not speak English, though Louis said some things 
to them by signs. The peaks in the distance and 
the vegetation of the island engaged the attention 
of the visitors more than the people. They returned 
to the boat and to dinner. 

On the return to Suva the pilot took the Blancliita 
into several bays and nooks overhung with lofty 
crags, some of which caused the more impulsive of 
the party to indulge in exclamations of wonder and 
delight. On the return to the harbor of Suva the 


A WEEK AT THE FIJI ISLANDS 


375 


launch went alongside both ships to leave her pas- 
sengers, the Guardian-Mother last. The pilot was 
engaged for the rest of the week, making a seven 
days’ stay at the island. 

During that week the pilot, who spoke English 
passably well, having been a sailor in a whale-ship, 
found plenty of places to visit by water ; and the 
time was all pleasantly occupied. 

The party went ashore on the Sunday following 
their week of recreation, and attended the Methodist 
service, where most of the audience were natives. 
On the following morning the ships went to sea 
again, bound to Samoa, or the Navigator Islands. 


376 


PACIFIC S HOKES 


CHAPTER XXXVI 

THE CONCLUSION OF THE LONG VOYAGE 

The ships sailed before the passengers left their 
staterooms ; but it was not more than a thirty hours ? 
run to Samoa, and Captain Ringgold called the rate of 
sailing “ loafing along,” for he did not wish to arrive 
at the port in the middle of the night. The sea was 
smooth, the weather was delightful, and the passen- 
gers enjoyed the trip. In the forenoon Louis Belgrave 
was called upon, General Noury having excused him- 
self, to say something about the islands to be visited 
the next day. 

“The name best known to Americans for the is- 
lands we visit next is the Navigator Islands, generally 
written in the possessive plural. They are 2,570 
miles from Sydney, and 1,570 from Auckland. Like 
the Fijis, they are of volcanic formation, with a single 
exception. There are nine islands, besides mere 
rocks and islets ; and they are surrounded with coral 
reefs. They are very mountainous, and for the most 
part well wooded ; and therefore they are very like the 
Fijis. There are but four islands of any size; and of 
these Upolu is the best known, and has an area of 
nearly 600 square miles. The volcanic soil is very 
rich and productive. 


THE CONCLUSION OF THE LONG VOYAGE 377 

“From May to November tlie weather is very pleas- 
ant, as we have it to-day; but the rest of the year 
is stormy, and the islands are visited by the most dis- 
astrous hurricanes. The productions are mostly vege- 
table, and sugar-cane grows wild in all the islands. 
Cotton and coffee are grown to some extent, but copra 
is the main product. There are many European set- 
tlers here, and the government, what there was of it, 
was very unstable ; but a conference of the three civi- 
lized powers most interested settled the matter about 
four years ago. The independence of the islands was 
acknowledged, and the people were to choose their 
own king or chief. The three powers were Germany, 
England, and the United States ; but the first has 
been most influential in public affairs of the islands. 
In 1889 Robert Louis Stevenson, 1 a well-known writer 
of more than a score of works, 'settled in Upolu; and 
he published recently “ A Footnote to History : Eight 
Years of Trouble in Samoa,” in which he devotes 
a volume to the subject, as indicated by the title. 
In March, 1889, while the ships of Avar of the three 
powers were in the harbor of Apia, the principal 
port of the group, the island was visited by a tre- 
mendous hurricane ; and of the seven naval vessels 
present, six were destroyed, with other craft. Only 
one man-of-war escaped, the English ship Calliope, 
saved by the wonderful skill and presence of mind of 
Captain Kane, her commander. She was more heav- 

1 Stevenson has since died in the island of Upolu, and a monu- 
ment marks his grave. 


378 


PACIFIC SHORES 


ily powered than any other ship present, and she 
steamed out of the harbor in the midst of the tempest. 
The account of the hurricane is the most interesting 
chapter in Stevenson’s book. 

“The affairs of the islands were finally settled, 
but not to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, 
though they are getting along vastly better than 
formerly.” 

At daylight the next morning the Guardian-Mother 
came to anchor in the harbor of Apia, where some of 
the effects of the hurricane were still to be seen. 
The Blan chita was put into the water again ; and for 
a week the voyagers wandered about on shore, and 
sailed among the islands. 

The course to the Sandwich Islands from Samoa 
was through or near islands or groups the first half 
of the way, and the commander used up ten days 
for this reason on the voyage. The ships crossed the 
equator for the third time, and Mrs. Belgrave ar- 
ranged a ceremony for the occasion which was not so 
senseless as the usual frolic. The last three days of 
the voyage were through an open sea, and the professor 
gave some account of the island they were next to 
visit. An event that created no little interest among 
the passengers occurred before they were out of the 
Fiji group, the crossing of the meridian at 180°, east 
or west from Greenwich, and two days had the same 
name. They had two Wednesdays instead of passing 
on to Thursday, because they were going east. If 
they had been going west, as from San Francisco to 


THE CONCLUSION OF THE LONG VOYAGE 379 

Yokohama, a day would be gained ; and one from the 
calendar would have been dropped, skipping Wednes- 
day, and passing on to Thursday. The commander 
explained the matter fully to the company in Confer- 
ence Hall, the whole of which is that a day is gained 
or lost in going around the world, and the merid- 
ian of 180° is a convenient point for making the 
change. 

Three days before the arrival of the ships at their 
destination, the weather still being what the ladies 
called “ lovely,” the professor gave a brief lecture, 
for the subject was well understood by the audi- 
ence. 

“ The Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands consist of 
twelve islands, only five of which are of any con- 
siderable size. They are in latitude about 20°. They 
were first seen by a Spanish navigator, and redis- 
covered in 1778 by Captain Cook, who was killed 
by the natives in one of them. They have a total 
area of 7,000 square miles, about equal to that of 
the State of Hew Jersey. Hawaii, the largest of the 
group, has 4,210, nearly as large as the State of 
Connecticut. Steamers from San Francisco, distant 
2,080 miles, and from Vancouver, touch here on their 
way to Australia. The islands are lacking in good 
harbors ; the best one being that of Honolulu, the 
capital, in Oahu, which is entered through a narrow 
channel in the reef, but has a depth of twenty-two 
feet in its shoalest parts. 

“ The larger islands are mountainous ; and Hawaii 


380 


PACIFIC SHORES 


contains some of the loftiest volcanoes, active and 
extinct, in the world. Mauna-Kea is 13,805 and 
Mauna-Loa 13,675 feet high ; and on its eastern 
slope is Kilauea, noted as the most extensive active 
volcano in the world, the glare of which is seen for 
eighty miles. You will probably see it for your- 
selves, for I believe the commander intends to re- 
main here about a month. 

“As a rule, the mountains are in the interior, and 
fertile valleys lead down from them to the sea, 
though you may see cliffs on the shore from 1,000 
to 3,000 feet high. The soil is largely decayed vol- 
canic matter, which makes it very productive. All 
the tropical fruits are abundant. The principal food 
of the natives is poi, a thick paste made from the 
root of the taro plant. If you read Herman Mel- 
ville’s “ Omoo ” and “ Typee,” you will learn more 
about the plant and its uses. There are no animals 
of any consequence except those brought here by 
Cook, Captain Vancouver, and other navigators. Wild 
horses and wild dogs have been found and tamed. 

“There are no reptiles here except one kind of 
lizard, and a few of the gecko species, not unlike the 
iguano, which you have seen and perhaps eaten. 
The native birds for some reason are rapidly dis- 
appearing, like the human kind. The principal trade 
of the islands is with the United States, from which 
many sugar-planters have come. Eight-ninths of the 
exports, valued five or six years ago at $10,000,000, 
were sugar. The imports are dry goods, furniture, 


THE CONCLUSION OF THE LONG VOYAGE 381 


and household articles ; and they are not more than 
one-half the value of the exports. The public debt 
is about $3,000,000 ; and the expenditures have ex- 
ceeded the revenue for several years, though in the 
last year or two the balance against the government 
has been less than formerly. 

“ In 1890 the total population was 89,990, with the 
number of males nearly double that of the females. 
The foreign element is rapidly increasing, while the 
native is decreasing. There are about 18,000 Chinese 
coolies in the islands, mainly employed on the sugar 
plantations. The natives of the islands are of the 
brown Polynesian stock, and are akin to the Maoris 
of New Zealand. There were supposed to be at the 
time of Captain Cook’s visit about 200,000 of them, 
and probably there are not more than one-seventh 
of that number now. Many have perished from im- 
ported disease, but the malady most common at the 
present time is leprosy. Those afflicted with this 
loathsome complaint have been sent to an island by 
themselves. A young Belgian priest nobly gave his 
life to the spiritual welfare of the lepers ; and in 1877 
he became the physician of their bodies as well as 
their souls, their magistrate, teacher, gardener, car- 
penter, cook, and even a gravedigger. In 1885 he 
was infected by the disease, but continued his mani- 
fold labors till he died in 1889 ; and all sects and 
creeds honored him. 

“In the early time each island had its king; but 
Kamehameha I. consolidated them all under his own 


382 


PACIFIC SHORES 


government. His successor took the same name at his 
accession in 1819, and in his reign idolatry was abol- 
ished throughout all the islands. Vancouver was re- 
quested by the king and his chiefs to send religious 
teachers to them from England, but the first mission- 
aries came from the United States in 1820. They 
were well received ; and in forty years all the people 
could read, write, and cipher, and the women could 
sew. 

“ Kamehameha II. visited England with his queen, 
and both of them died in London in 1824. The third 
of the name granted a constitution to the kingdom, 
and in 1843 its independence was guaranteed by 
France and England. At the death of the fifth 
king of the same name the line became extinct ; and 
Lunalilo, a high chief, was elected to the vacant 
throne. 

“ On the death of Lunalilo, in 1874, another high 
chief was elected to the throne, Kalakaua, whose 
visit to the United States will be remembered by 
most of you. In 1886 the finances of the kingdom 
were in bad condition ; and the king was called upon 
to dismiss his cabinet, and grant a new constitution, 
which was accomplished the following year. This 
king died in 1891, and was succeeded by Liliuokalani, 
the princess royal, who was married to His Excel- 
lency John 0. Dominis, an American, Governor of 
Oahu. 

“I have already talked too long, but I must give 
you the latest news from the Hawaiian kingdom. The 


THE CONCLUSION OF THE LONG VOYAGE 383 

queen just mentioned was on her throne at the begin- 
ing of last year; but on the 15th of January, ac- 
cording to a note in the Statesman’s Year-Book of 
this year, the queen attempted to force a new consti- 
tution upon the cabinet. The members declined to 
accept it, and it appears to have been a mild revolu- 
tion. A committee of public safety was organized, 
and a deputation sent to Washington to petition the 
United States Government to annex Hawaii. 

“ Two days later this committee issued a proclama- 
tion consisting of four articles, the substance of which 
was, that the Hawaiian monarchical system was abro- 
gated, establishing a provincial government for the 
management of public affairs and for the preserva- 
tion of the public peace, until the terms of union with 
the United States could be agreed upon ; providing an 
executive council of four, with the functions of gov- 
ernment, and an advisory body of fourteen, with gen- 
eral legislative authority ; and the officials of the late 
government were empowered to discharge the duties 
of their several offices, except the Queen, Marshal 
Wilson, and the members of the cabinet.” 

Later intelligence than this had not been received 
by the professor ; but we know that Hawaii was not 
annexed, and that there was a tempest in Wash- 
ington following the news and the arrival of the 
commissioners. It was in the forenoon of the first 
day of October that pilots were taken ; and the. two 
steamers went through the narrow opening into the 
harbor of Honolulu, and dropped their anchors. In 


384 


PACIFIC SHORES 


half an hour the Blanchita was in the water, and was 
soon on her way to the shore with all the passengers 
from both ships ; and before lunch-time they were 
domiciled in the Hawaiian Hotel, with most of their 
apartments on the second floor, opening out upon a 
spacious veranda. 

The tourists were much surprised to find so fine a 
hotel in this part of the world. It is owned by the 
government, and its cost considerably increased the 
debt of the kingdom ; but before it was built, it was 
difficult for a visitor to find a resting-place. The 
table was somewhat peculiar, but it was entirely 
satisfactory. Taking the place of oatmeal was poi , 
which is the national dish of Hawaii, and is the 
principal food in many of the South-Sea Islands. It 
is manufactured now with American machinery, and 
sold about the streets by peddlers, carried in large 
calabashes swung at the end of a pole, as the Japan- 
ese carry burdens. 

Strawberries in October were a novel luxury ; the 
oranges were equal to any the party had eaten in the 
tropical regions they had visited ; guava, bread-fruit, 
and bananas were abundant. Flying-fish are a great 
dainty. Taro is the potato of the islands, and^oi is 
made from it. The Americans liked this dish when 
not fermented. In riding about the town they saw 
it growing, mostly under water. 

There were carriages to be had, and after dinner 
the company rode all over the town ; but going on 
horseback was the most common method of loco- 


THE CONCLUSION OF THE LONG VOYAGE 885 

motion, and the “Big Four,” with the professor and 
Dr. Henderson, preferred to ride in this manner. 
They saw a great many churches, and they concluded 
that about all the people in Honolulu “ went to meet- 
ting,” as perhaps they called it ; for most of the 
missionaries came from Hew England, and many of 
the islands had some of the customs of that region. 
The government building was more like a palace 
than the residence of the sovereign, and was a rather 
elaborate structure. 

The religious needs of the sailors, of whom there 
are always a great number in port, largely whale- 
men, were provided for at the Bethel Church, where 
Dr. Damon had preached for many years. The guide 
they had obtained at the hotel, who rode on horse- 
back from carriage to carriage, pointed out the first 
native church built in the town, which bore the 
marks of its age. The Queen’s Hospital is said to 
be conducted in an admirable manner, and the build- 
ing was one of the best in the place. 

In the street the tourists saw a group of women, 
young and old, who had stopped to gaze at them ; 
and the ladies had something to say about their 
dress, which was peculiar, though they found that 
it was the fashion all over the islands, perhaps not 
for full dress, but for every-day wear. It had no 
waist, but from the yoke depended the rest of the 
garment, hanging loose from the shoulders nearly to 
the ground. The hair was dressed in a variety of 
styles. One of them wore a boy’s cap, and the 


386 


PACIFIC SHORES 


others nothing. After the ride through the streets 
the party went to Waihiki, which is the bathing- 
place of Honolulu ; and they were delighted with the 
scene there presented to them. Across the glassy 
bay they saw the white houses under groves of co- 
coanut palms, with Diamond Head, a craggy height 
of considerable elevation, forming the background 
of the picture. 

They returned to the hotel much pleased with their 
excursion. It would require a whole volume to de- 
scribe the places visited by the company, and our 
limits will not permit it to be given. 

The commander announced that the Guardian- 
Mother would sail for home the 25th of October. 
General Noury had never been in the United States ; 
and he desired to make the tour of the country, 
and would attend the American ship to New York. 
The Blanchita was kept in motion nearly every day, 
and the tourists visited every one of the large islands 
in her. Along the shores they saw plenty of the 
wonderful surf-bathing of the natives on a board or 
plank in the high rollers that broke on the beaches. 

They made a continuous tour of the islands, spend- 
ing a week at Hilo, during which those who desired 
to do so visited the volcano of Kilauea ; but the 
Cupids had to be excused, as well as Mrs. Woolridge, 
for it included more than a hundred miles of riding 
on horseback over a rough region ; but all the others 
went, and spent a couple of days at the Volcano 
House. On the return to Honolulu the Blanchita 


THE CONCLUSION OF THE LONG VOYAGE 387 


went around Hawaii, and visited Kealakeakua Bay, 
where Captain Cook was killed. They landed fre- 
quently where there was any attractive scenery to be 
viewed. The launch encountered some rather heavy 
seas for a small craft ; but she behaved admirably, 
and the company returned to the capital highly de- 
lighted with the excursion. On the last week of 
their stay they made a trip in the Blanchita to 
Kauai, the most western of the islands, where they 
saw a party of native girls in front of a grass house, 
eating poi as Melville describes the process, — by tak- 
ing it out of a large calabash with their hands, as a 
country boy drinks water out of his palms at a spring 
when he has no cup. 

They visited what Miss Blanche called a lovely 
waterfall, which was not unlike the Falls of Minne- 
haha, at Minneapolis, and quite as beautiful. With 
the pilot they had employed for the term of their 
stay they passed single days in visiting some of the 
romantic bays and nooks of Oahu, till the day of sail- 
ing came, all too soon, some of them thought. 

The first port to be reached was Valparaiso ; and 
the voyage was nearly 6,000 miles, and would be at 
least eighteen days in length with reasonably favora- 
ble weather. On the day named the ships sailed ; but 
they cannot be followed in detail in their voyage of 
at least fifty days, including stops at five ports on the 
way. 

While the ships were coaling at Valparaiso, the 
party went ashore, and spent a couple of days in 


388 


PACIFIC SHORES 


viewing the city. The ships went through the Strait 
of Magellan, where the tourists gazed with wonder 
upon the wild scenery and the lofty mountains, and 
saw something of the disgusting natives ; and con- 
tinued on, making a stay of two days at Monte Video, 
where they had an opportunity to see something of 
the place. Three days later they arrived in the beau- 
tiful Bay of Bio de Janeiro, where three days were 
given to the city and its surroundings. Two days 
after the steamer sailed they came to Bahia, which 
was the last port to be visited ; and the wanderers 
all over the world began to feel as though they were 
almost home. Two days were passed here, and an 
extra supply of coal was taken on board. It was a 
voyage of fourteen days to New York ; and at the end 
of that time, though the ships encountered a tre- 
mendous gale off Cape Hatteras, they stopped their 
engines at quarantine in New York Harbor, and 
soon after anchored off Twenty-Third Street in the 
city. 

Of course Mrs. Belgrave was in a great hurry to 
see her new house ; and while Louis attended the 
party to Von Blonk Park, Captain Binggold con- 
ducted the pacha and the princess, with the rajah, to 
the Waldorf Hotel. Dr. Henderson went to his own 
home at Albany by the first train. The commander 
considered the general and his wife and father-in-law 
as his guests while they remained in New York, and 
promised to call upon them the next day, after he 
had introduced them to a friend who would be their 



They saw plenty of the wonderful surf-bathing 


of the natives 


Page 388 



THE CONCLUSION OF THE LONG VOYAGE 389 

guide until that time. Mr. Woolridge and his family 
went to their home in the Fifth Avenue Hotel. 

The tour all over the world had been completed in 
just two years, as planned in the beginning; and it 
was “ home again ” to those who had gone in the 
Guardian-Mother. Mrs. Belgrave and Louis found 
their new house, but it was empty and unfurnished. 
The next day both of them went to the Waldorf. 
They found Dr. Hawkes there ; and he promised to 
take care of General Houry and his wife for the next 
three days, while the “ first lady,” assisted by the 
captain, purchased her carpets and furniture. 

Without dwelling on these details, in a week the 
house was elegantly furnished, and the general’s party 
were invited to spend the rest of their time there. 
They were delighted with the new home, though ac- 
customed to palaces. It was only ten days after they 
had moved in that a very important event occurred 
in the new mansion, considerably hastened in order 
that the pacha and the princess might be present. It 
was nothing less than the wedding of Captain Royal 
Ringgold and Mrs. Maud Belgrave, an event which 
had long been predicted on board of the Guardian- 
Mother. Louis knew nothing about the matter till 
the ship arrived at the Sandwich Islands, though even 
to him “ coming events cast their shadows before.” 

All the passengers and all the officers of both ships 
were present on this happy occasion. Louis felt as 
though he had lost his mother, for their relations had 
been more like brother and sister than like mother 


390 


PACIFIC SHORES 


and son j but he felt that this time she had been com- 
mitted to most excellent hands, and he was rejoiced 
to see his mother as happy as she had ever been in 
her life. John Scoble, otherwise Wade Farrongate, 
was still in prison ; and his sentence would not expire 
for eight more years. Mrs. Ringgold had a powerful 
protector in her husband ; and she had no fear of Sco- 
ble, even if he should again appear on the stage of 
events. 

The Blanche sailed the next day for Florida, for 
the pacha and the princess found the weather of De- 
cember too cold for them. Captain Ringgold and the 
bride started upon their wedding-tour at once, and 
went to the West. Louis had collected all his books 
in his room at the new house, and he was inclined to 
continue his studies. Professor Giroud had returned 
to his family ; and with the aid of Dr. Hawkes, Louis 
found another instructor. The Guardian-Mother still 
lay at her anchorage off New York, just as she had 
come in from her long voyage. Mr. Boulong wished 
to remain on shore, and had resigned his position to 
take part in a business enterprise with his brother. 
Mr. Gaskette became first officer, and George Scott 
the second, thus redeeming the promise the comman- 
der had made to him. George Scott Fencelowe was 
the name under which the latter had come on board 
of the ship in the Bahama Islands nearly two years 
before : but he had dropped the last name, and it had 
hardly been heard on board of the ship ; for his fos- 
ter-father was a defaulter, and had served a term in 


THE CONCLUSION OF THE LONG VOYAGE 391 

prison, so that the young officer did not like the name 
which had been added to his own. 

Captain Ringgold had not resigned his command; 
and on his return from his tour to the West and 
South, the Guardian-Mother sailed for Egypt and 
the Holy Land. Louis was a frequent visitor at the 
residence of the magnate of the Fifth Avenue ; and 
he was deputed by his father and mother to invite 
the Woolridges to make the tour of Palestine with 
them, and they accepted the invitation. Mrs. Blos- 
som and Felix McGavonty, and, after much persua- 
sion, Uncle Moses, were members of the party. With 
the exception of Dr. Hawkes and the professor, the 
passengers were the same as during the two preced- 
ing years. Louis’s tutor was a physician, and he was 
both surgeon and instructor. On their return the 
ship made occasional trips to Europe and elsewhere, 
and the Guardian-Mother is Louis’s yacht up to the 
present time. 

Blanche Wool ridge is nineteen now, and the belle 
of New York. 

Louis is twenty-one, and his fortune has hot been 
impaired under the prudent and skilful management 
of Uncle Moses. The young man is constant in his 
visits at her father’s house, and another “ impor- 
tant event ” is likely to be celebrated within two or 
three years at the mansion of the magnate. Louis is 
still a millionaire, as he was at sixteen; but he is 
an honest, upright, and virtuous man, true to him- 
self and his friends. He never drank a glass of 


392 


PACIFIC SHORES 


wine, beer, or liquor in his life, never played a game 
of chance, never bet on a horse or a yacht, and is 
a regular churchgoer wherever he happens to be. 
Though many of the young men with whom he comes 
in contact regard him as a “ goody-goody,” he enjoys 
life more than any of them, and finds his happiness 
in being true to himself and to his God. 


OLIVER OPTIC’S BOOKS 


All-Over-tlie- World Library. By Oliver Optic. First Series. 
Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25. 

1. A Missing Million; or, The Adventures of Louis Belgrade. 

2. A Millionaire at Sixteen; or, The Cruise of the “Guardian 

Mother.” 

3. A Young Tvniglit. Errant; or, Cruising in the West Indies. 

4. Strange Sights Abroad; or, Adventures in European Waters. 

No author has come before the public during the present generation who 
has achieved a larger and more deserving popularity among young people than 
“ Oliver Optic.” His stories have been very numerous, but they have been 
uniformly excellent in moral tone and literary quality. As indicated in the 
general title, it is the author’s intention to conduct the readers of this enter- 
taining series “ around the world.” As a means to this end, the hero of the 
story purchases a steamer which he names the “ Guardian Mother,” and 
with a number of guests she proceeds on her voyage. — Christian Work, N. Y. 


All-Over-tlie- World Library. By Oliver Optic. Second 
Series. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25. 

1. American Boys Afloat; or, Cruising in the Orient. 

2. The Young Navigators ; or, The Foreign Cruise of the 

“ Maud.” 

3. Up and Down the Nile ; or, Young Adventurers in Africa. 

4. Asiatic Breeies ; or, Students on the Wing. 

The interest in these stories is continuous, and there is a great variety of 
exciting incident woven into the solid information which the book imparts so 
generously and without the slightest suspicion of dryness. Manly boys 
will welcome this volume as cordially as they did its predecessors. — Boston 
Gazette, 


All-Over-tlie- World Library. By Oliver Optic. Third Se- 
ries. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25. 

1. Across India ; or, Live Boys in the Far East. 

2. Half Round the World ; or, Among the Uncivilized. 

3. Four Young Explorers; or, Sight-Seeing in the Tropics. 

4. Pacific Shores ; or, Adventures in Eastern Seas. 

Amid such new and varied surroundings it would be surprising indeed if the 
author, with his faculty of making even the commonplace attractive, did not 
tell an intensely interesting story of adventure, as well as give much informa- 
tion in regard to the distant countries through which our friends pass, and 
the strange peoples with whom they are brought in contact. This book, and 
indeed the whole series, is admirably adapted to reading aloud in the family 
circle, each volume containing matter which will interest all the members of 
the family. — Boston Bridget. 

LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE. 


OLIVER OPTIC’S BOOKS 


The Blue and the Gray — Afloat. By Oliver Optic. Six 
volumes. Illustrated. Beautiful binding in blue and gray, 
with emblematic dies. Cloth. Any volume sold separately. 
Brice per volume, $1.50. 


1. Taken by the Enemy. 

2. Within the Enemy’s Eines. 

3. On the Blockade. 


4. Stand hy the Union. 

5. Fighting for the. Right, 
G. A Victorious Union. 


The Blue and the Gray — on Band. 

1. Brother against Brother. it. A Eieutenant at Eighteen. 

2 . In the Saddle. 4. On the Staff. 

5. At the Front. 

( Volume Six in preparation.) 

“There never has been a more interesting writer in the field of juvenile 
literature than Mr. W. T. Adams, who, under his well-known pseudonym, is 
known and admired by every boy and girl in the country, and by thousands 
who have .long since passed the boundaries of youth, yet who remember with 
pleasure the genial, interesting pen that did so much to interest, instruct, and 
entertain their younger years. ‘The Blue and the Gray’ is a title that is suf- 
ficiently indicative of the nature and spirit of the latest series, while the name 
of Oliver Optic is sufficient warrant of the absorbing style of narrative. This 
series is as bright and entertaining as any work that Mr. Adams has yet put 
forth, and will be as eagerly perused as any that has borne his name. It would 
not be fair to the prospective reader to deprive him of the zest which comes 
from the unexpected by entering into a synopsis of the story. A word, how- 
ever, should be said in regard to the beauty and appropriateness of the binding, 
which makes it a most attractive volume.” — Boston Budget. 

Woodville Stories. By Oliver Optic. Six volumes. Illus- 
trated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, $1.25. 

1. Rich and Humble; or, The Mission of Bertha Grant. 

2. In School and Out; or, The Conquest of Richard Grant. 

3. Watch and Wait; or, The Young Fugitives. 

4. Work and Win; or, Noddy Newman on a Cruise. 

5. Hope and Have; or, Fanny Grant among the Indians 

6. Haste and Waste; or, The Young Pilot of Lake Champlain. 

“ Though we are not so young as we once were, we relished these stories 
almost as much as the boys and girls for whom they were written. They we* v 
really refreshing, even to us. There is much in them which is calculated o 
inspire a generous, healthy ambition, and to make distasteful all reading tend- 
ing to stimulate base desires.” — Fitchburg Reveille. 

The Starry Flag' Series. By Oliver Optic. In six volumes. 
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, 
$1.25. 

1. The Starry Flag; or, The Young Fisherman of Cape Ann. 

2. Breaking Away; or, The Fortunes of a Student. 

3. Seek and Find; or, The Adventures of a Smart Boy. 

4. Freaks of Fortune; or, Half round the World. 

5. Make or Break; or, The Rich Man’s Daughter. 

G. Down the River; or, Buck Bradford and the Tyrants. 

“ Mr. Adams, the celebrated and popular writer, familiarly known as Oliver 
Optic, seems to have inexhaustible funds for weaving together the virtues of 
life; and, notwithstanding he has written scores of books, the same fresnness 
and novelty run through them all. Some people think the sensational element 
predominates. Perhaps it does. But a book for young people needs this, and 
so long as good sentiments are inculcated such books ought to be read.” 

LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE. 


OLIVER OPTIC’S BOOKS 


Army and Navy Stories. By Oliver Optic. Six volumes. 
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, 
$1.25. 

1. The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army. 

2 . The Sailor Boy; or, Jack Somers in the Navy. 

3. The Young Lieutenant; or, Adventures of an Army Officer. 

4. The Yankee Middy; or, Adventures of a Navy Officer. 

5. Fighting Joe; or, The Fortunes of a Staff Officer. 

6. Brave Old Salt; or, Life on the Quarter Deck. 

“This series of six volumes recounts the adventures of two brothers, Tom 
and Jack Somers, one in the army, the other in the navy, in the great Civil War. 
The romantic narratives of the fortunes and exploits of the brothers are thrill- 
ing in the extreme. Historical accuracy in the recital of the great events of 
that period is strictly followed, and the result is, not only a library of entertain- 
ing volumes, but also the best history of the Civil War for young people ever 
written.” 


Boat Builders Scries. By Oliver Optic. In six volumes. 
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, 
$1.25. 

1. All Adrift ; or, The Goldwing Club. 

2 . Snug Harbor; or, The Champlain Mechanics. 

3. Square and Compasses; or, Building the House. 

4. Stem to Stern; or, Building the Boat. 

5. All Taut; or, Rigging the Boat. 

6. Ready About; or, Sailing the Boat. 

“ The series includes in six successive volumes the whole art of boat building, 
boat rigging, boat managing, and practical hints to make the ownership of a 
boat pay. A great deal of useful information is given in this Boat Builders 
Series, and in ~ach book a very interesting story is interwoven with the infor- 
mation. Every reader will be interested at once in Dory, the hero of ‘ All 
Adrift,’ and one of the characters retained in the subsequent volumes of the 
series. His friends will not want to lose sight of him, and every boy who 
makes his acquaintance in * All Adrift ’ will become his friend.” 


Riverdale Story Books. By Oliver Optic. Twelve vol- 
umes. Illustrated. Illuminated covers. Price: cloth, per 
set, $3.60; per volume, 30 cents; paper, per set, $2.00. 


Little Merchant. 

7. 

Young Voyagers. 

8, 

Christmas Gift. 

9 

Dolly and I. 

10 

Uncle Ben. 

11, 

Birthday Party. 

12 . 


Proud and Lazy. 
Careless Kate. 
Robinson Crusoe, Jr. 
The Picnic Party. 
The Gold Thimble. 
The Do-Somethings. 


Riverdale Story Books. By Oliver Optic. Six volumes. 
Illustrated. Fancy cloth and colors. Price per volume, 30 
cents. 


1. Little Merchant. 

4. 

Careless Kate. 

2. Proud and Lazy. 

5. 

Dolly and I. 

3. Young Voyagers. 

6. 

Robinson Crusoe, Jr. 


Flora Lee Library. By Oliver Optic. Six volumes. Illus- 
trated. Fancy cloth and colors. Price per volume, 30 
cents. 

1. The Picnic Party. 4. Christmas Gift. 

2 . The Gold Thimble. 5. Uncle Ben. 

3. The Do- Somethings. 6. Birthday Party. 

These are bright short stories for younger children who are unable to com- 
prehend the Starry Flag Series or the Army and Navy Series. But they 
all display the author’s talent for pleasing and interesting the little folks. They 
are all fresh and original, preaching no sermons, but inculcating good lessons. 


LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FRFF. 


OLIVER OPTIC’S BOOKS 


The Famous Boat Club Series. By Oliver Optic. Six 
volumes. Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price 
per volume $1.25. 

1. The Boat Club; or, The Bunkers of Rippleton. 

2. All Aboard; or, Rife on the Lake. 

3. Now or Never; or, The Adventures of Bobby Bright. 

4. Try Again; or, The Trials and Triumphs of Harry West. 

5. Poor and Proud; or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn. 

A. Tittle by Tittle; or, The Cruise of the Flyaway. 

“ This is the first series of books written for the young by Oliver Optic. 
It laid the foundation for his fame as the first of authors in which the young 
delight, and gained for him the title of the Prince of Story Tellers. The six 
books are varied in incident and plot, but all are entertaining and original.” 

( Other volumes hi preparation .) 

Young' America Abroad: A Library of Travel and 
Adventure in Foreign Lands. By Oliver Optic. Illus- 
trated by Nast and others. First Series. Six volumes. 
Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, $1.25. 

1. Outward Bound; or, Young America Afloat. 

2. Shamrock and Thistle; or, Young America in Ireland and 

Scotland. 

3. Red Cross; cr, Young America in England and Wales. 

4. Dikes and Ditches; or, Young America in Holland and 

Belgium. 

5. Palace and Cottage; or, Young America in France and 

Switzerland. 

6. Down the Rhine; or, Young America in Germany, 

“The story from its inception, and through the twelve volumes (see Second 
Series), is a bewitching one, while the information imparted concerning the 
countries of Europe and the isles of the sea is not only correct in every particu- 
lar, but is told in a captivating style. Oliver Optic will continue to be the 
boys’ friend, and his pleasant books will continue to be read by thousands of 
American boys. What a fine holiday present either or both series of ‘ Young 
America Abroad ’ would be for a young friend ! It would make a little library 
highly prized by the recipient, and would not be an expensive one.” — Provi- 
detice Press. 

Young America Abroad. By Oliver Optic. Second Series. 
Six volumes. Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. 
Price per volume, $1.25. 

1. Up the Baltic; or, Young America in Norway, Sweden, and 

Denmark. 

2 . Northern Lands; or, Young America in Russia and Prussia. 

3. Cross and Crescent; or, Young America in Turkey and Greece. 

4. Sunny Shores; or, Young America in Italy and Austria. 

5. Vine and Olive; or, Young America in Spain and Portugal. 

C. Isles of the Sea; or, Young America Homeward Bound. 

“ Oliver Optic is a nom de plume that is known and loved by almost every 
boy of intelligence in the land. We have seen a highly intellectual and world- 
weary man, a cynic whose heart was somewhat embittered by its large experi- 
ence of human nature, take up one of Oliver Optic’s books, and read it at a 
sitting, neglecting his work in yielding to the fascination of the pages. When 
a mature and exceedingly well-informed mind, long despoiled of all its fresh- 
ness, can thus find pleasure in a book for boys, no additional words of recom- 
mendation are needed.” — Sunday Times. 


LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE. 


OLIVER OPTIC’S BOOKS 


The Way of the World. By Oliver Optic. Illustrated. 
$1.50. 

“ One of the most interesting American novels we have eve* read.” — Phila- 
delphia City Item. 

“ This story treats of a fortune of three million dollars left a youthful heir. 
The volume bears evidence in every chapter of the fresh, original, and fascinat- 
ing style which has always enlivened Mr. Adams’ productions. We have the 
same felicitous manner of working out the plot by conversation, the same 
quaint wit and humor, and a class of characters which stand out boldly, pen 
photographs of living beings. 

“The book furnishes a most romantic and withal a most instructive illustra- 
tion of the way of the world in its false estimate of money.” 

Living' too Fast; or, the Confessions of a Bank Officer. 
By Oliver Optic. Illustrated. $1.50. 

This story records the experience of a bank officer in the downward career of 
crime. The career ought, perhaps, to have ended in the State’s prison; but 
the author chose to represent the defaulter as sharply punished in another way. 
The book contains a most valuable lesson; and shows, in another leading 
character, the true life which a young business man ought to lead. 

Ill Doors and Out; or, Views from a Chimney Corner. By 
Oliver Optic. Illustrated. $1.50. 

“ Many who have not time and patience to w'ade through a long story will 
find here many pithy and sprightly tales, each sharply hitting some social 
absurdity or social vice. We recommend the book heartily after having read 
the three chapters on ‘Taking a Newspaper.” If all the rest are as sensible 
and interesting as these, and doubtless they are, the book is well worthy of 
patronage.” — Vermont Record. 

“As a writer of domestic stories, Mr. William T. Adams (Oliver Optic) 
made his mark even before he became so immensely popular through his 
splendid books for the young. In the volume before us are given several of 
these tales, and they comprise a book which will give them a popularity greater 
than they have ever before enjoyed. They are written in a spirited style, 
impart valuable practical lessons, and are of the most lively interest.” — Boston 
Home Journal. 

Our Standard Dearer. A Life of Gen. U. S. Grant. By 
Oliver Optic. Illustrated by Thomas Nast. Illuminated 
covers, $1.50. 

It has long been out of print, but now comes out in a new edition, with a 
narrative of the civil career of the General as President for two terms, his 
remarkable journey abroad, his life in New York, and his sickness, death, and 
burial. Perhaps the reader will remember that the narrative is told by 
“ Captain Galligasken ” after a style that is certainly not common or tiresome, 
but, rather, in a direct, simple, picturesque, and inspiring way that wins the 
heart of the young reader. P'or the boy who wants to read the life of General 
Grant, this book is the best that has been published, perhaps the only one 
that is worth any consideration. 

Just His Luck. By Oliver Optic. Illustrated. $1.00. 

« it deals with real flesh and blood boys ; with boys who possess many noble 
qualities of mind; with boys of generous impulses and large hearts ; with boys 
who delight in playing pranks, and who are ever ready for any sort of mischief ; 
and with boys in whom human nature is strongly engrafted. They are boys, 
as many of us have been; boys in the true, unvarnished sense of the word; 
boys with hopes, ideas, and inspirations, but lacking in judgment, self-control, 
and discipline. And the book contains an appropriate moral, teaches many a 
lesson, and presents many a precept worthy of being followed. It is a capital 
book for boys.” 

LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE, 


OLIVER OPTIC’S BOOKS 


She Great Western Series. By Oliver Optic. In six vol- 
umes. Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per 
volume, $1.25. 

1. Going: West; or, The Perils of a Poor Boy. 

'2. Out West; or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes. 

3. Lake Breezes; or, The Cruise of the Sylvania. 

4. Going South; or, Yachting on the Atlantic Coast. 

5. Down South; or, Yacht Adventures in Florida. 

6. Up the River; or, Yachting on the Mississippi. 

“ This is the latest series of books issued by this popular writer, and dealt 
with life on the Great Lakes, for which a careful study was made by the author 
in a summer tour of the immense water sources of America. The story, which 
carries the same hero through the six books of the series, is always entertain- 
ing, novel scenes and varied incidents giving a constantly changing yet always 
attractive aspect to the narrative. Oliver Optic has written nothing better.” 

The Yacht Club Series. By Oliver Optic. In six volumes. 
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, 
$1.25. 

1. Little Bobtail; or, The Wreck of the Penobscot. 

2. The Yacht Club; or, The Young Boat Builders. 

3. Money-Maker; or, The Victory of the Basilisk. 

4. The Coming Wave; or, The Treasure of High Rock, 

5. The Dorcas Club; or, Our Girls Afloat. 

6. Ocean Born; or, The Cruise of the Clubs. 

“ The series has this peculiarity, that all of its constituent volumes are inde- 
pendent of one another, and therefore each story is complete in itself. Oliver 
Optic is, perhaps, the favorite author of the boys and girls of this country, and 
he seems destined to enjoy an endless popularity. He deserves his success, 
for he makes very interesting stories, and inculcates none but the best senti- 
ments, and the ‘Yacht Club* is no exception to this rule.” — Nezu Haven 
Journal and Courier. 

Onward and Upward Series. By Oliver Optic. In six 
volumes. Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price 
per volume, $1.25. 

1. Field and Forest; or, The Fortunes of a Farmer. 

2. Plane and Plank; or, The Mishaps of a Mechanic. 

3. Desk and Debit; or, The Catastrophes of a Clerk. 

4. Cringle and Crosstree; or, The Sea Swashes of a Sailor. 

5. Bivouac and Battle; or, The Struggles of a Soldier. 

6. Sea and Shore; or, The Tramps of a Traveller. 

‘‘Paul Farringford, the hero of these tales, is, like most of this author's 
heroes, a young man of high spirit, and of high aims and correct principles, 
appearing in the different volumes as a farmer, a captain, a bookkeeper, a 
soldier, a sailor, and a traveller. In all of them the hero meets with very 
exciting adventures, told in the graphic style for which the author is famous.” 

The Lake Shore Series. By Oliver Optic. In six volumes. 
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, 
$1.25. 

1. Through by Daylight; or, The Young Engineer of the Lake 

Shore Railroad. 

2. Lightning Express; or, The Rival Academies. 

3. On Time; or, The Young Captain of the Ucayga Steamer. 

4. Switch Off; or, The War of the Students. 

5. Brake Up; or, The Young Peacemakers. 

<>. Bear and Forbear; or, The Young Skipper of Lake Ucayga. 

“ Oliver Optic is one of the most fascinating writers for youth, and withal 
one of the best to be found in this or any past age. Troops of young people 
hang over his vivid pages ; and not one of them ever learned to be mean, ignoble, 
cowardly, selfish, or to yield to any vice from anything they ever read from his 
pen.” — Providence Press. 


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